What Is and What Should Never Be
by K. M. Mac
Summary: Whichever path you take in life, no matter who you are, you always die, but what if it was possible to cheat death...? Modern day/Adult Edward/AU
1. Fallen Idol

**Author's Note: **Revised, and changed to chapter one!

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C H A P T E R O N E

_Fallen Idol_

The mahogany table shook slightly as a cell phone danced across the glass top, vibrating and playing it's ringtone loudly. It's owner was roused slowly, and eventually, a hand clapped down on the phone, stopping it's jumping around and stared at the caller ID before flipping it open.

"This had better be good, you woke me up." Edward Elric rasped.

Saturday nights were his night off, meaning he could freely do whatever the hell he wanted starting at seven. Tonight he chose to sleep, considering he had been pulling all nighters a couple times during the long week.

"So that's what you've been doing for the past five hours? You lazy son of a bitch, I'm jealous." Cody Miller mused on the other end. His voice was much deeper than Edward's even though he wasn't that much older than him. "Anyways, I'm calling about the Coleman's case; that billionaire's mansion we were just at earlier today?"

Edward massaged his left temple, "Yeah, what about it?"

There was a heavy sigh, "The Investigations and Intelligence Department came up with a few leads. I went over them already, but since your head of this case you need to come into HQ and take a look."

"Basically you want my permission to go hunt down some possible suspects." Edward glanced at the clock, "Whatever, I'll come in. Oh, by the way, your stupid mutt devoured my pillows."

"I always did think your house needed some redecorating… And she's not a mutt, she's a purebred German Sheppard."

Edward rolled his eyes, "I want your dog out of my house, Cody."

As if on cue, a black dog plodded into the room carrying a tennis ball in her mouth. Edward scrunched his nose up as it was dropped to his feet. Slobber melted to the wood floor below.

"Bring Sam with you then, I will just have to leave her at Damon's house or something while my apartment is finished up."

"Good." Edward stood up, plucking the royal blue leash from the table his phone had previously been resting on and clipping it to Sam's collar. "I'll see you in ten."

"I'll be waiting outside your office." Cody replied and hung up.

Edward flipped his phone shut as he lead Sam toward the front door. The Sheppard gave a whine and attempted to drag Edward back to the tennis ball. Since he was just relieved to be getting the dog out of Alphonse and his town house he relented and allowed Sam to lead him back to the couch and grab her ball.

The first few weeks with getting Sam's leash on had been a hassle, but eventually she had warmed up to him and was being surprisingly good, however, Cody had warned him about her high spirited nature and how she liked to run off on walks if there was another dog. Which was why Edward was taking Sam to Headquarters in his car instead.

Edward didn't bother changing out of his faded jeans or his long-sleeve navy blue button up for two reasons. One, he hated that ridiculous military uniform. Secondly, it was actually not too cold out, even with November approaching. So, he was content in what he had on. Did he care if someone bitched him out for his lack of appropriate attire?

Definitely not.

Writing a quick note for Alphonse on the center island in the kitchen, Edward lead Sam along beside him as he put on his shoes and grabbed his car keys out of his black overcoat that he had worn earlier to Headquarters. When he got outside and was prepared to let Sam jump up into the new sleek black G37 Infiniti Coupe.

"So, there are a few rules to riding in this car," he began, though Sam was hardly listening. She was too concerned with dropping the tennis ball on the driveway and catching it before it bounced off. Edward continued, convinced that he could get through to the Sheppard. "No peeing, shitting, puking, slobbering, or ruining anything. Period. If you do, you're dead." He warned, jabbing his left index finger at Sam.

The Sheppard stared up at him with her head canted off to the side, seeming clueless.

"Good, glad we cleared that up."

Edward unlocked his car as he lead Sam around to the passenger side of the car before he pointed at him again. "No barking either, I've heard enough of it over the last few weeks."

Sam looked at him puzzled again, except this time she added a lively bark as if to be a smartass.

With a sneer, Edward opened the door. While he moved a few boxes of files from the front seat to the back he set Sam's leash down underneath his foot just to make sure she didn't run off.

Suddenly, another bark filled the air, and when Edward pulled his head out of the car to look he saw a car passing by with a gray mutt hanging it's head out the window. He looked down at Sam then, only to realize that she wasn't there. Instead, she had darted off after the dog that was in the car.

"Fuck!" Edward shut the door and took off down the sidewalk. "Sam, sit!" he commanded. It didn't work. Sam kept on going with an excited bark, already cutting the corner to chance the car as it turned on to the main road that lead back toward downtown.

Edward was officially going to kill this animal. He thought it would make for an interesting story; having to kill Cody's dog after seeing it as a necessary punishment for causing complete and utter chaos the last few weeks. Honestly, the dog's name should've been called "Calamity" instead of Samantha.

Pumping his legs as fast as he could, Edward found himself exiting the neighborhood and passing the first building that towered ahead; marking the first street of downtown Central. Rounding the corner, Edward once again, hollered ahead at Sam, listening as the people he passed on the street chuckled or gasped, mumbling about how _unfortunate_ it was to be chasing a dog, or muttering insults about how the Sheppard should be better trained. The last remark didn't make him feel as bad considering Sam wasn't his dog.

Soon enough he came to it; Vine and Windsor—one of the busiest intersections in downtown Central. He shouldn't have been worried about Sam getting hit, she was already weaving in and out of cars and was safely on the other side of the street. No, he should've been worried about himself getting hit, but his selflessness took over and instinct drove him out into the street. The first sedan he dodged barely, and the van in the next lane stopped just in time to avoid hitting him.

"S—!"

_BAM!_

Something had rammed into his side, shattering his ribcage with such force that when he hit the ground he swore he could hear his head crack open on the cement. Blood gathered in his mouth as suddenly people were standing over him, asking him stupid questions like, _"Are you okay?"_ or _"Do you need an ambulance?"_. He couldn't speak; the pain seemed to have vanished; as if his body had done him mercy and had canceled it out. But he knew that wasn't true…he was dying…this was the end. Who would've thought that something so typical like this would happen to someone as untypical as himself?

Everything was slowing down and melting together. He didn't understand anything anyone was saying to him now, and there were no recognizable faces. All he could recognize was the thick taste of iron in his mouth.

Someone shook him, but it didn't help. In fact, he only closed his eyes tighter. This was it, the end, and here he thought alchemy was going to be the true cause of his death. But fate had other plans… Plans that would expose the strong, and punnish the sinners.

Edward coughed up more blood from his lungs, turning onto his side and allowing the crimson liquid to seep from the corner of his lips and to the street below. Reality seemed to far away...so unreal that he knew he was gone. His body was shutting down, and he could feel it as his thoughts, movements, breaths, and ultimately his heart, stopped.


	2. Posthumous

**Author's note:** Sorry for the delay, been very busy lately. Anywho, I wanted to give a special thanks to _Spicy Lime_ 63 and _Kalez-and-Death_ for reviewing, and everyone who has read this FanFic so far. Seriously, I love you guys—you're why I write! :D

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C H A P T E R T W O

_Posthoumous_

"Let's see… Number twenty-three…twenty-four…twenty-five—and number twenty-six."

Singling a silver key from the other ten in his hand, the local Coroner Doctor Geoff McCourt sighed and placed the key into a slot located next to an aluminum handle, unlocking what looked like to be a filing cabinet. It was a sort of cabinet, and it did file things, but not papers. The cabinets that lined the perimeter of the large mortuary were home to the deceased, each having their own slot and number from one to fifty; the maximum number of cadavers this hospital, Central Hospital, could hold in one room.

There were multiple other rooms in the building that looked just as plain and grim as this one, although this room was special. It was reserved for the bodies of state alchemists, no matter how they passed.

So Edward Elric was no exception.

Pulling open the drawer out quite a few feet, Geoff moved around to the side of the metal "bed" pulling out a pair of latex gloves from the white lab coat that covered a black suit, Geoff moved to unzip a black body bag to reveal the ivory skinned alchemist within it.

"To think that you would be killed by a car…" He muttered in his typical scruffy voice, shaking his head in disappointment as he stopped unzipping the bag once he had fully exposed Edward's torso. "I thought you were supposed to be some sort of prodigy or something." The doctor added, raising both of his brows. Geoff was never bothered with talking to the deceased, he actually enjoyed it, as odd as his wife thought it was. Because for one, when he had secrets, he could divulge them to someone who was never going to speak again, and to him, that was wonderful. Besides, a man in his forties that worked alone like he was needs some form of entertainment, no matter how disturbing it would seem to others.

Turning away from Edward, Geoff walked over to a large metal table with a white clipboard resting upon it, which he picked up before turning around to walk back over to Edward. Pulling a pair of glasses from his breast pocket, Geoff put them on before lifting the clipboard to his eyes, beginning to read aloud to himself. "Time of death…ten-seventeen…cause of death… Hemorrhaging." he glanced down at Edward's face sympathetically, "—Well that's not any fun, is it?" he said, before setting the clipboard aside Edward's still zipped up legs. Using both of his hands then, the coroner carefully placed them on either side of Edward's head, turning it to the side so he could see the back of his head. Nodding then, he studied the opening in the back of his head before gently laying Edward's head back down and making a mark on the clipboard.

"Well, guess it's time that I have a look to see what else went wrong with you." Geoff said, setting down the pen he had been writing with and walking back over to the same table that the clipboard had been resting on before. This time though, he went about searching for a rectangular metal tray, which he found and brought back over to Edward's body. "And now we begin the autopsy." The doctor intoned, seeming rather pleased about this part as he plucked a scalpel from the tray.

Pressing the palm of his hand firmly to the right section of Edward's chest and placing the tip of the scalpel at his throat then, Geoff's brows knit in concentration, making sure that he was going to make the incision in the right place, though he did not get very far...

"Dr. McCourt?"

Head lifting, Geoff lifted the scalpel from Edward's throat, looking over his shoulder toward a speaker resting high up on the wall across the room.

"Dr. McCourt?" A woman's voice repeated over the intercom.

With an agitated grumbled the doctor put down the scalpel in the tray and pivoted, facing the speaker. "Yes, Ms. Harris, what do you need?"

"Ah, there you are," Ms. Harris replied, a smile evident in her tone. "General Roy Mustang is on the phone and would like to speak with you, do you have a minute?" She asked politely.

"No," Geoff replied impatiently; he detested being bothered in the middle of an examination. "I'm in the middle of finishing an autopsy, Ms. Harris, please tell Mr. Mustang to call back later or to leave a message."

"Yes, sir." And with that the intercom shut off.

Relaxing, Geoff resumed his work. "Things like this always happen to me…" He complained, picking up the scalpel again and moving into the same position he had been in before he was interrupted. Pressing the razor against Edward's throat, and applying a firm amount of pressure he—

"Dr. McCourt?"

Startled, the scalpel slipped and buried itself deep in the Elric's neck, although Geoff had stopped his hand before he hit the esophagus. He cursed and pulled his hand back, looking over his shoulder once again to scowl at the speaker. "_Yes_, Ms. Harris?"

"Uhm, General Roy Mustang—"

"Yes, yes, I told you to tell him to call back another time." Geoff interrupted irritably.

"Yes, I did, but he… Well, he's here."

Geoff frowned, "That's unexpected…" He muttered before clearing his throat and raising his voice again, "I thought you said he was on the phone."

"He was driving by and decided to stop in."

Sighing, he stood up straight, tossing the scalpel once again into the tray. "Alright, send him down." He was now superior to a General of the Army, thus why he had to relent; he did not have the power to keep him out of his work area, no matter how much it disrupted his progress.

"Yes, Dr. McCourt." And the intercom was shut off again.

"Well, looks like we'll be having some company, Mr. Elric." Geoff told Edward, though he didn't sound happy about it.

Suddenly hearing a loud knock on the metal door, Geoff turned and leaned back on his heels slightly, peering through the small rectangular window on the door to see who it was. "…And the party arrives so soon." He muttered grimly, noticing the three figures in blue military uniforms.

Taking off his gloves as he walked across the room to the door, Geoff pulled a name tag from his lab coat and flashed it in front of a small square box. As soon as he did so, there was a small beep, followed by a click as the door was unlocked. Opening the door, Geoff forced a smile onto his lips. "Yes, gentlemen—" He paused, realizing that there was one blonde haired women hidden somewhat behind the two men; one with raven hair and the other with red, "—and lady. What can I do for you?" He asked politely.

The raven haired man grunted, seeming to see past Geoff's business visage, and pushed past him into the room.

"Excuse me, but you didn't answer my question." Geoff began, looking vexed.

Onyx eyes never glanced at the doctor, instead they had rested upon Edward's body bag. "Do you have someone here by the name Edward Elric?" He asked straightforwardly, although he already knew the answer.

A little put off by man's attitude, Geoff stepped away from the door and toward him as the rest of the entourage entered the room as well, though they said nothing. "I presume that you're General Mustang?" Geoff began sourly before answering his question. "Yes, but I'm right in the middle of an autopsy… I'm afraid you'll either have to wait outside or come back another time." He explained, gesturing back toward the closed door.

Mustang finally glanced toward the doctor, though it was no friendly stare, it was cold…almost menacing…though he quickly looked away, starting over toward the table Edward's lifeless body lay upon, implying that he wasn't going to listen.

"General Mustang, I believe I said I was in the middle of an autopsy. You can't stay." Geoff stated firmly as he began making his way over toward the raven haired man, though he was stopped short when a hand came to rest on his shoulder, jerking him to a halt. Irritated by this, Geoff turned his head to the side and scowl. "What do you're doing?" The doctor's snapped, although his angry expression fell when he found a pair of intense red-brown eyes boring into his.

They belonged to a blonde haired woman, who was shorter than him, but wore an expression that was too intimidating to challenge. So he grunted, drawing his attention away from her to look back toward Mustang, who was bent over Edward's body, waiting for the General to say something.

The room grew deathly silent as Mustang failed to speak, his focus solely on Edward's frozen visage. Brows knit and lips pressed parted slightly, Mustang eventually murmured, "God damn you, kid." His words caught everyone's attention. Dr. McCourt even leaned forward a little, hoping to hear more.

"Sir..?" Riza Hawkeye, the woman that was standing beside Geoff spoke, her tone low; careful…like she was in the same room as a sleeping infant. Mustang didn't move. "Sir…you wanted to say something about Edward's body…"

This grabbed the General's attention, for he finally stood erect, nodding once to confirm Hawkeye's words. "As soon as you are done with this autopsy I want you to contact me so I can come pick him up."

Geoff's brows skewed upwards at his request. And here he had thought he had issues with talking with the dead, and this man wants to pick up Edward's body and take it away to do God knows with it. "Why?"

"I want someone else to take a look at him." Mustang replied, finally turning around to face the other three with a severe expression; seeing proof for the first that Edward Elric was dead had bothered the General, no matter how much he had trained himself to not show personal emotions during work.

"Ah… Well… Then, yes, I will make sure to call you." Geoff replied reluctantly.

Normally he was not allowed to release bodies from the hospital, they were to head straight to the cemetery or wherever they were to be laid to rest, but something in the General's eyes made him think twice about denying his request. Why was the General concerned with someone else taking a look at Edward's body? He was one of the most trusted coroners in the city, hell even Amestris, yet here was the General, on the verge of displaying some sort of maudlin concern over a dead alchemist.

Mustang actually seemed subtly surprised that Geoff had agreed; the doctor had not been pleased with him since he and the other two military officers had arrived. Of course he did not know why, though he made the assumption that it was because they had interrupted his precious autopsy time. Rolling his shoulders a bit, he glanced back toward Edward's body before starting back toward the door.

"If you don't call within the next twenty-four hours I'll be stopping by again." He noted as Hawkeye, and the red haired man following Mustang toward the door.

"I _will_ call you," Geoff replied, his tone becoming more agitated by the second, "You have my word."

With one last glance over his shoulder, Mustang looked past Geoff toward Edward, his expression looking a little hopeful…as if he was waiting for the blonde to sit up and tell him that this was all some big prank on him for all the insults. Much to his dismay, the Elric did nothing of the sort. A frown crossing his lips, he opened the door and flashed one last glance toward the doctor, giving him a nod before making his exit.

As soon as the door closed, Geoff relaxed with a sigh, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Damn military…" He muttered, walking back over to Edward and pulling out a pair of fresh latex gloves from his coat pocket. After putting those on, the doctor picked up his scalpel and leaned over the Elric's body slightly. "Now I am sure I will be able to finish this." He said, a frown settling over his lips. Well, at least he was hoping he would, but sometimes hope was not enough.

"Dr. McCourt?"

"For the love of God!" Geoff shouted, tossing his arms up into the air. He was sick and tired of being interrupted, and if it happened again he was going to—

"Dr. McCourt~" Ms. Harris' voice sang.

"What is it _this_ time?" He snapped, not moving from his position until he knew what it was that Ms. Harris had to tell him.

"There is a gentleman on the phone who would like to speak with you."

"Well, who the hell is it?"

"He didn't say, just said that he had a quick question that will not take more than three minutes of your time."

The doctor thought for a moment, "Well what I'm doing is more important than him, so tell him to leave a message."

"But he said that it was about his son, who was a state alchemist, sir."

Geoff was seriously getting fed up with this alchemist crap. But what choice did he have? He had to take care of any matter concerning them, no matter what he thought.

With a growl, Geoff yanked off his gloves, tossing them and the scalpel down into the tray before zipping up the body bag and pushing Edward's body back into the cabinet, making sure to look it before he turned on his heel and strode over to the door to exit the room.

Almost running to his office down the hall to get this phone call done and over with, Geoff grumbled multiple curses, only calming when he noticed his office door ahead, which he stopped outside of the second he reached it. Unlocking the door, Geoff opened it and headed inside. It was a small office unfortunately, and it made the doctor rather disgruntled being within the white walled room, with its cheap blue carpeting with numerous stains on it that were _not_ from him; he was sure of it. It truly made him feel underappreciated to have this small of a room for his use. Didn't anyone understand the things he saw and what he did for the state? Apparently not… But at least Central Hospital had provided him with the basic office necessities; a phone, computer, fax machine, copier, desk, chair, and so on—for he was sure that he would have quit his job had he had to go out and buy everything he needed. Walking across the small space to his desk, Geoff cleared his throat and picked up the line, placing the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Ah," A man's voice began, "Hello."

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"I just had a quick question."

"Uh-huh…" Geoff grunted, "Who is this?"

"James Helms." The man replied.

The name didn't ring a bell. "…Well what do you need, Mr. Helms?"

"I was wondering how late you were going to be in your office." James replied, "My son served in the military, Major Krieg Helms… I wanted to come in and see his body."

Normally the doctor would have told the person he was speaking with to hold for a few minutes while he searched for the patient's file they were calling about, but to speed things up, he just decided to ask only one question he saw important. "Was an autopsy done?"

"So I've been told."

"I see…" He glanced at his watch, "I will be in for a few more hours, feel free to stop in."

"Alright, thank you." James said simply before abruptly hanging up.

A little taken aback, Geoff looked at the phone before huffing and setting it down on the receiver. "Waste of my time…" He grumbled, moving around his desk to pull open a drawer full of files. "Let's see… Helms…H-E-L-M-S…" The doctor frowned as he looked through the H's. He went through the files three times before closing the drawer, looking perplexed.

He said Major Krieg Helms didn't he? Yes the man did, but according to his records there was no one by the name "Krieg" or "Helms," and definitely not "Krieg Helms." Geoff scratched the top of his head then, moving to pick up a coffee mug off of his desk and move across the room to fill it up with coffee; he'd have to ask Ms. Harris about this later, or to trace the number, but not right now, he needed to get back to work

Walking back down the long hallway back toward the room he had been in before with Edward's body as well as the rest of the cadavers, Geoff pulled his name tag from his coat, flashing it in front of the square box beside the door that led back into the room before putting it away again. As soon as the door unlocked, he pushed it open and walked inside, the door slowly swinging closed behind him.

"Finally, I can get back to what I was doing before all these people started bothering me." He said to himself as he crossed the room back toward the cabinet.

This time he was sure he would be able to finish the autopsy in peace, which rarely happened, but hey, he could dream. Retrieving the set of keys from his pocket, Geoff placed it into the slot for #26 and back up as he pulled the drawer all the way out, only to drop the keys that he was holding as well as the coffee mug.

"Whe-Where…" He stuttered, walking around the mess of coffee and ceramic to the metal bed and placing his hands on it, seeming horrified at whatever it was he saw. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" He muttered frantically, suddenly whirling around to look at various places of the room. Rushing over to a small red button located on the same wall the intercom was, only further down the wall at eye level. Slapping the palm of his hand against the button, Geoff stared up at the intercom.

"Deb!" He shouted just as her heard Ms. Harris' side of the intercom click on.

"Yes, Dr. McCourt?"

Could she be any more casual?

"I want you to check all the security cameras, Edward Elric's body missing!" He blurted out, sounding nearly hysterical.

"Edward Elric…" Ms. Harris sounded a bit more alert now, "How is he missing?"

"He got up and walked out on his own!" He spat sarcastically, "How do you think? Someone came in here and _stole_ his body! It was probably that Musta—"

"No need to shout, Dr. McCourt, I'm going to look at the security cameras now." Ms. Harris interrupted calmly, "I'll let you know if I see anything."

Geoff remained silent for a few moments, letting out angry puffs of air, though he did ultimately end the conversation with a growl "Well hurry it up," before storming away from the intercom and out of the room in complete fury.

There was only one person that had talked about taking Edward; Mustang. He must have taken his body when he left, he knew it, and he was going to do something about it.


	3. A Blind Endeavor

**Author's Note:** Revised! Thanks for the reviews; _Naruto-fan-4-ever_ and _Spicy Lime 63_, I love hearing back from anyone who reads my stories.

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C H A P T E R T H R E E

_A Blind Endeavor_

There was nothing on the security cameras.

"This is one of those times where I _really_ hate my job…" Dr. McCourt muttered under his breath as he hastily picked up the phone in his office, holding a phone book in the other. For four hours he had been busy trying to pinpoint Edward's body and who took it. He had called General Mustang's office multiple times, but all it did was ring incessantly. After Geoff punched in the numbers, he waited, once again listening to the other line ring multiple times before it finally clicked; someone had picked up.

"Hello?"

Eighth time was the charm~

"General," Geoff began spitefully, "I've been trying to call you since you left the morgue."

"Have you? I didn't notice."

The doctor forced back a growl at Mustang's nonchalant response.

"What did you need exactly—finish the autopsy already?"

Geoff scoffed. Was the General playing dumb? "No, I wasn't able to because Mr. Elric's body has suspiciously gone missing."

"He's _what_?" Mustang suddenly blurted out, his tone laden with a sudden rush of rage. "How the hell is his body missing?"

A little puzzled, yet curious as to why the General responded this way, Dr. McCourt drew in a huff of air before replying. "I think you know how, General."

"What—"

"You took his body. It's quite obvious how much you were attached to the boy, but stealing his body is just downright disturbing."

The General barked out a laugh, "I think you have your facts mixed up, doctor."

Geoff, displeased with Mustang's response, became irritated once again. "You know, lying gets you in jail."

"No, committing a crime does, which I didn't do." Mustang replied icily, though he still seemed to have a hint of amusement in his voice.

The doctor scowled, the corner of his lips twitching slightly as he thought of a response.

"Was there anything on your security cameras? Or I'm sure someone would have noticed someone walking out with a body bag."

"I've checked them, and no, no one saw _anything_." Geoff snarled when Mustang's question had broken his train of thought.

There was an agitated sigh, "Then what exactly are you planning to do?"

Dr. McCourt was stumped at this question. Well…honestly he was not sure, because he had been positive that Mustang had been the one that had taken Edward's body. So he did not respond.

"Look, this bothers me just as much as it does you." Mustang broke the silence, sounding like he had calmed himself, "So. Continue doing your job, and I'll do mine." And with that, he hung up the phone.

Blinking a couple of times, Geoff looked at the phone, his brow twitching slightly. The General certainly was rude…

"Who was that, sir?" Hawkeye's voice came from the front of his desk. Mustang had not even noticed that she had come in…

"That coroner we just saw earlier today," he began; Hawkeye remained silent, waiting for him to elaborate. "Apparently the bastard lost track of Edward's body."

Riza seemed unnerved by this, although she remained collected. "What are you planning to do about that?"

Mustang heaved a sigh, his brows knitting slightly as a frown crossed his lips. "First, I need to get a hold of Al."

"Sir, you haven't called Alphonse?"

Roy looked offended, "I'm not that irresponsible… I left a message saying that he needed to call me back because I had something important to tell him, but that was the day of Ed's death…I haven't heard from him since." He explained.

"Was he out of town?" Riza questioned, raking her brain for any reason as to why Alphonse would refrain from phoning the General.

Thinking for a moment on that, Mustang ultimately nodded. "Now that I think about it, Fullmetal did mention something about Al going to Aquroya, though I would think he would've caught wind of what happened to his brother and come right back right away."

"Unless he did find out and isn't coming back because he doesn't want to believe it…"

Mustang frowned heavily, shifting to lean back in his chair and close his eyes. "That's a possibility, too." He agreed reluctantly.

The two remained silent after that for a few moments before the General acted; picking up the phone at his desk and dialing the number to Edward's and Alphonse's town house. Riza let a sigh pass through her lips before she moved toward one of the two black leather couches in Mustang's office, sitting down and waiting silently for him to finish his phone call. Roy watched her, listening to the other line ring a few times before someone suddenly picked up.

"Hello?"

A little surprised that someone answered, Mustang sat up straighter, clearing his throat. "Al?" he asked, recognizing the familiar, yet drained voice on the other end.

There was a brief moment of silence on the other line before the voice responded. "Yeah, it's me."

"You're back then…" he continued, "Feeling alright?"

Alphonse did not respond.

"You found out about your brother I take it?"

"…It was all over the news, and I figured something bad happened when Ed didn't answer at the house, office, or cell." The Elric finally said, sounding torn.

Mustang grimaced. The reporters did have a field day when they heard the illustrious Fullmetal Alchemist had been killed…by a _car_. It was not unusual to hear of pedestrians being killed by vehicles, but an alchemist? One that Roy knew could have easily stopped the car had he been paying attention. "I see…" he paused, "Al, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I need to tell you something else about your brother."

Alphonse made a sound on the other end, it sounded like a whine; he didn't want to hear any more bad news. "What is it?"

"Your brother's body is missing from the morgue." Mustang replied hesitantly; he felt guilty for telling the younger Elric this. Causing Alphonse to probably become even more distressed then what he already was.

"How?" Alphonse asked impulsively, suddenly sounding baffled, rather than upset.

The General relaxed when he heard this response; he liked it better than if the younger Elric suddenly broke down in tears. "Not sure, the coroner said that there was nothing on the security cameras and no one saw anyone come in that looked like they would've been prone to causing trouble. And more specifically, no one saw anyone leave with a black body bag."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

Mustang tapped his gloved fingers on the surface of the desk then, slipping into thought briefly. "I am going to send a group of men over to the morgue your brother's body was at, and check a few others as well as sweep the graveyards, just to make sure no one dumped his body there as a sick joke. Then I want to check the labs in Central affiliated with Headquarters—"

"Why would we do that?"

"You'd be surprised how many twisted people out there who would like to get their hands on a dead Edward Elric." The General replied grimly.

"Oh…" There was an obvious note of disdain in Alphonse's voice.

"Are you able to come to Headquarters?"

"When?"

He flickered his gaze toward the clock on the wall adjacent to his desk. "Now."

"I'll be over in ten, thanks, General."

A small smile tugged at his lips, "I'll see you in a few." And with that, he hung up the phone and looked at Riza; his smile had washed away.

"Go tell Havoc, Breda, Lance, and Miller to head to Central Hospital to do a search for Edward's body. You, go let the investigations department that they need to start gearing up for a search of their own." He ordered. Riza nodded firmly and stood, swiftly leaving the General's office. As the door shut, Mustang stood up and turned to stare out at the courtyard through one of the numerous ceiling to floor windows.

Edward's body was going to be found, no matter what they had to do to locate it.

* * *

Looking frantically in the review mirror, Wayne Cowan gripped the steering wheel of his black tuck tight enough to turn his knuckles white. He was having a hard time breathing. What they, meaning him and his partner, had just done was ridiculous, risky and rash—the three R's—but they had to do it. Why? Because the man that had asked them to do the job was a rich bastard and said he would pay them well if they did the job for him, although he did not explain why they had to do it.

"Will you calm the fuck down?" A low and agitated male's voice came from the passenger seat. "You're breathing so hard that I can't hear myself think."

Flashing his grey eyes toward his partner, Seth Fisher, he shifted uneasily in the driver's seat, trying to focus on driving again. "I can't," he paused, "We just—"

"Yeah, I know what we did. And?"

"And couldn't this kid's damn father come and get him? Why did _we_ have to do it?"

There was a heavy sigh from Seth as he rolled his eyes, lifting a hand to flick a strand of greasy black hair out of his crystal blue eyes. "Money, idiot. Money."

Wayne frowned and pursed his lips together, staring hard at the road ahead. "What does he want with _it_ anyways?"

Seth grunted, "Like I give a shit…" he muttered. "I don't know."

Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, Wayne then flicked on his turn signal as he got off the highway; the man they were delivering the body to lived a mere five minutes away on a secluded property in a small town outside of Central; Ida. His name was Ruse Randeer, a man that made millions of dollars every day in owning a broom company. Who would have thought that something so simple could rake in so much money, but the product itself did not make the owner that popular. Lifting a hand from the steering wheel to rake through his cropped dirty blonde hair, Wayne gave up on conversing with his partner. Normally Seth was in a good mood, but ever since they had gotten this assignment he had been on a short fuse; prone to irritation. Since there was nothing he could do about it, Wayne settled for continuing their drive to the Randeer mansion.

After a few long moments of silence had passed, Wayne turned off the main road and onto a gravel path with trees encroaching on the space; making the road so narrow that if another car were to come from the other direction, one of them would either have to reverse their way out or run the other into the mess of trees. The path was long, making the air in the car continue to become more awkward and tense between the two males. Thankfully though, after driving a few miles, a large brick mansion came into view just as they passed a large wooden sign with the words "Randeer Mansion Ahead" in bold.

Clearly Ruse was not concerned with anyone finding him…he had nothing to hide; innocent. Finally the bumpy path became paved as it led up to the way up to a circular driveway in front of the mansion, and as Wayne drove closer, he could make out the form of an elderly man in a blue suit waiting at the top of a large staircase between two gargoyles.

"He's alone." Wayne stated the obvious, although his tone sounded mystified.

"No he's not." Seth pointed ahead as one of the two large front oak doors opened and two large men wearing all black came out, the bigger of the two carrying a large briefcase.

Wayne frowned, feeling a little uneasy. "Hm…" Was all he replied with as he parked the truck alongside the staircase before cutting the engine and getting out.

"Let's get this shit over with…" Seth grumbled, getting out as well and moving around to the back and opening up the hatch. Grabbing the end of a black body bag, he pulled it out roughly.

"Please be careful with him, Mr. Fisher."

Both of the men looked up to find that Ruse was casually making his way down the limestone steps, accompanied by his two body guards. He was smiling, although it was one that made Wayne's and Seth's skin crawl. It was really the only intimidating thing about the old man… His figure was short and slim, while Seth was tall, yet scrawny, and his face was rugged; it matched his personality so well.

Releasing the body bag, Seth scoffed and took a couple steps back. "Well since you decided to grace us with your presence I'll let you take care of this."

"I was already planning on it."

Seth sneered, "Then can you pay us because we need to get going?"

Ruse chuckled as he turned to the man carrying the black briefcase and took it from him before returning his hazel eyes to Seth and holding it out for him to take, that smile never leaving his lips.

"Is it all here?" Seth asked, moving to snatch the briefcase from Ruse's hand.

That smile finally faded. Ruse appeared hurt, although his eyes danced with amusement at the younger male's attitude. "Well I'm offended, Mr. Fisher. Don't you trust me?" There was a brief moment of awkward silence as Seth and Wayne exchanged questionable looks. Ruse continued, turning to look over his shoulder at one of the bald, less buff of the two body guards that had yet to participate. "Take his body in." The one that had been ordered to do so stepped forward and around Seth and Wayne, his onyx eyes hardly acknowledging their existence as he picked up the body bag, slung it over his shoulder and headed back to the front doors.

"So is that all then?" Wayne asked as he put up the hatch, finally speaking up after having been silent the whole conversation.

Ruse nodded, already turning to leave along with the other body guard. "Yes. Drive safely, gentlemen." He said, lifting a hand to give a fluid wave before he clasped both of his hands together behind his back and continued up the stairs. Seth and Wayne watched him for a brief moment before they both muttered something about Ruse's oddities and headed back to their doors. After getting in and starting the truck, Wayne finally turned to look at Seth, who was lighting a cigarette.

"What do you think he is going to do with the body?"

"Like I told you before," Seth began, sticking the cigarette between his lips and opening the briefcase to reveal multiple rows of one-hundred dollar bills. "I don't give a shit."

* * *

The sound of someone knocking at his door startled Mustang from his sleep and he sat up straight. Had he honestly fell asleep from the time he had sent Hawkeye off to now? He glanced at the clock…well; he had only been out for fifteen minutes. But he hadn't recalled being tired before—ah wait—the General glanced down at his desk. Paperwork.

That always lulled him to sleep. The knocking came again, only this time followed by the door being opened just enough that Alphonse's head popped into view.

"General?" He asked hesitantly, his tired almond eyes peering around the room before they focused on the military uniformed man behind the desk.

"Come on in," Mustang made a fluid motion with his hand to beckon the Elric into his office.

Closing the door behind him Alphonse pushed open, revealing his diminished form. Walking slowly over to Mustang's desk, he forced a small smile to pull at his lips; it had been a while since the last time he had seen the General, although he had been hoping that their next meeting would have been over something less morbid.

"Any leads yet?"

Mustang folded his arms over his chest as he watched Alphonse enter the room. He had grown up a lot; Mustang had to remind himself that the Elric was an adult now, just like his brother.

Dark circles underneath Alphonse's almond colored eyes hinted to lack of sleep as he came to stand in front of his desk. His short hair and attire looked a little disheveled. He wore a cream colored t-shirt underneath a white long sleeve button up, which hung open with one sleeve rolled up and the other down. His khaki pants were wrinkled, but there were no stains to be found.

"No," he finally said, shaking his head a little, "Nothing yet. But I sent a crew out to the morgue Ed's body was at, hoping to find some clues."

Alphonse nodded, "So what are _we_ going to go do?" He asked quietly.

Roy pushed back his chair and stood, picking up a piece of paper. "I know I said that we were going to wait before we went to the labs… But I don't see why we should waste any more time with this search." Mustang replied, continuing. "This is a list of all the labs and what their work consists of. It is pretty simple, except one of the labs, number four, is classified. No one except the Fuhrer knows what goes on there—"

"So it is possible that Ed's body could be there?" Alphonse interrupted, gesturing to the piece of paper.

"There's a chance, so we will go there first." There was a pause, "It's almost a ten minute drive over to this lab, so you should close your eyes; you look like you haven't slept for a while." Mustang suggested.

Alphonse forced a small smile as he turned to leave with Mustang, "Maybe…" He muttered, though he knew he wouldn't.

* * *

Walking across the oak floor of a large, sun-lightened circular room, Ruse placed a cheery smile on his oval face, his eyes focusing on a short, slender man looking to be about the same age as himself seated at a card table.

"William." Ruse called over.

Looking up from a chess board, the grey-haired man turned his head, focusing his sunglass-covered eyes on his friend. "I noticed that you received the body, my friend." William smiled.

"Yes, it was just delivered." Randeer replied, sounding pleased as he stopped just a few feet from William. "Are you ready?"

William did not look directly at Ruse; instead, he focused his gaze just over the man's shoulder, gently tapping his cane on the floor. "Yes, everything is ready, as am I." He replied calmly, lifting his cane to point toward a large design in white chalk that was decorating the floor in the center of the room.

Ruse turned his head, following his friend's cane. He nodded. He flashed a small smile and turned to look back at William, who was slowly setting his cane back down on the floor, although still did not look at him. "Now, when we leave you'll be able to find your way around, right?" He asked, concerned for his friend.

William chuckled, "Don't underestimate me, my friend. One sense may be impaired, but the others are as sharp as the head of a pin."

Randeer laughed, nodding a few times and waving a hand lazily through the air. "My apologies…" he quieted, letting a small sigh calm his laughter. "Then good luck. I trust that you will be able to bring him back with no problems at all."

"I will. Though before I begin, did you want to take a look at him?"

Ruse shook his head, "I do not want to see my son's face until his eyes are full of luster and he is able to return the welcoming hug I give him." He replied calmly. He had had a difficult time accepting Andrew's death, but he had managed to temporarily do so. So, seeing his son's lifeless body would only cause him to relapse. Besides, he could wait. Now that William, a lifelong friend and alchemist, could bring Andrew back to the realm of the living.

William's smiled softly, lifting a hand to accurately lay it upon Ruse's shoulder; patting it gently. "I understand." He dropped his hand to hold it out in front of him.

Randeer smiled a bit, reaching out to shake William's hand firmly before letting it go. "We,"—meaning him and his body guards—"will eagerly return in a few hours." He said, moving to clasp his hands behind his back and turn, crossing the floor to leave the room through the large archway. Keeping his attention facing the way it had, William lifted a hand to wave goodbye before he moved across to the center of the room, pulling out a piece of paper as he did so. Coming to a halt at the edge of a large transmutation circle, William dropped his cane and dragged his fingertips over the piece of notepad paper, feeling where he had pressed his black pen into the paper. Written upon it in oddly perfect cursive were these notes:

_The Human Composition…_

_Water, 35 liters  
Carbon, 20 kilograms  
Ammonia, 4 liters  
Lime, 1.5 kilograms  
Phosphorous, 800 grams  
Salt, 250 grams  
Saltpeter, 100 grams  
Sulfur, 80 grams  
Fluorine, 7.5 grams  
Iron, 5 grams  
Silicon, 3 grams  
And 15 other elements._

Nodding to himself, William folded back up the paper and placed it in his back pocket. Shrugging out of the black jacket of his suit and tossing it behind him somewhere, William rolled up the sleeves to his white button-up shirt before carefully dropping down to his knees. Remaining silent, he drew in a soft breath before clapping his hands together and gently placing them on edge of the circle.

Immediately, the spectacle began…

The transmutation started out in a burst of yellow light, which illuminated the transmutation circle with a flash of blue "lightening" down the center. Following the mass of light came a vortex, which circled around the black body bag in the center of the transmutation circle before expanding outwards. But as the seconds passed, the yellow light took an ugly turn; becoming a dark purple. Something was wrong, but even if William didn't see it, he _felt_ it. He knew this transmutation was taking a wrong turn, and yet his visage remained completely calm.

William knew the consequences of attempting a human transmutation, but was he afraid? No…

The windows and chandelier shattered. Glass and crystal fell, uniting on the oak floor in a symphony of chaos. Adding to the sound was then a scream; one so full of agony that the lights flickered in the room before they suddenly went out, followed by the electric purple light, which disappeared almost instantly, filling the ball room with smoke.

The room stilled, engulfed in darkness… But as the last piece of crystal departed from the chandelier and shattered on the floor an ear piercing screech shot through the room, reverberating throughout the mansion.


	4. Two Months Old

**Chapter Three**

"_It's your fault…your brother…the way he is, having his soul stuck in that suit of armor…"_

_Edward lifted his chin, his golden orbs meeting a pair of jade. Aaron Lancaster…the only person he had told how he truly felt about everything. Yet here she was, hassling him again about how difficult it will be to make things "normal" for him and his brother. "I know."_

_Aaron's brows knit, "You also understand that it has been nearly nine years since he was last in his human body, right? And that the chances of him getting back into his body are near futile now."_

_Futile? Was it really futile to try and return Alphonse, his only brother, to his human body? "I won't give up." Edward muttered, shaking his head to reinforce his statement._

_Her eyes softened sympathetically as Aaron stepped forward, tilting her head back slightly so she could keep her focus on Edward's eyes. For a moment she said nothing, made no movement save her long black hair that rustled slightly from the light breeze that brushed past them inconsistently. Finally though, she parted her lips, allowing a sigh to pass through her lips before she spoke. "…You don't know how to return his soul to his body, I know you don't; I can see it in your eyes, Ed."_

_Edward looked away, unwilling to believe that._

_She always did know how to alter her tone to make it appear like she was consoling someone, but what she was really doing was stabbing them right in the heart…damaging their hope, pride, desire…_

"Pride!"

I blinked a couple of times, only to jolt as something hit the back of my head. It felt like a hand. Probably was a hand. I frowned and lifted my right hand to rub the spot of my head that was beginning to throb. I heard someone beside me grunt.

"Pay attention."

It was Envy. My…"babysitter"…for the time being. He wasn't really good at the job, especially after two months of _this_ life. But that was just my opinion, which didn't exactly matter in the environment that I lived in. Unless it was me. My own opinion mattered to me. "Pay attention to what?"

I was hit again for that response, harder than the first time. I made an assumption that Envy wasn't happy.

"What do you think, idiot?" he snapped, and stomped ahead of me on the dirt path we were on. "Abigail, our new Master, is replacing Dante." He summarized.

Oh yeah. I tilted my head back to stare up at the grey sky. Dante…My gut and conscious agreed that I didn't like the woman; having met her or not, it didn't matter. "Why?"

Envy looked over his shoulder, surprised by the edge in my tone, but he grunted a second later when he seemed to remember that my name was "Pride", thus why I would resent anyone who wanted to be my "Master".

I wonder if Envy knew that I resented him. And that I thought he looked like a palm tree. Seriously, his hair even had a greenish tint to it. Very odd. Kind of like his attire…and mine.

"Don't ask stupid questions. You know why," Envy finally said and looked away. I tilted my head slightly as he flicked a piece of black hair away from his face.

"That wasn't a stupid question."

"It is—"

I waited.

"—Because I already told you _why _while you weren't listening. Maybe if you were paying attention then you wouldn't have to ask!"

I grinned. Envy has a shorter temper than me, I think. But I kept that to myself just like the other things I thought of him. I wiped the amused expression off my face as Envy glared at me. I looked away. I had nothing to say. However, I did regret not listening to him, because now I felt…anxious? Yes, that was the emotion.

Envy said nothing more, just continued to lead the way. I enjoyed the silence. It was something I rarely experienced unless I was alone, but that wasn't something that happened often either. Envy said that I couldn't have time to myself because he said that it would be better if I didn't _remember_. I still don't know if that remark was said out of care, or just a command. Regardless, I had remembered some things. Like my old name.

I rolled my shoulders a bit, rubbing at my right shoulder where my tattoo was. I really didn't like the thing; I would prefer it if my skin was clear of any sort of mark. I had already tried cutting the tattoo out of my shoulder, but when my body regenerated, it just came back. It was truly a heartbreaking endeavor.

"Hurry up, kid!"

I looked ahead to find that Envy was a good thirty feet ahead of me. Was I really walking that slow?

To refrain from being locked out of the mansion, I quickened my pace to a jog, only to slow back down to a walk when I was near Envy's shoulder.

Ahead of us was a large colonial mansion. It is a nice place, I think. Lots of rooms for only four of us, well, five now. I frowned; this woman joining us better not take my room. Which was the largest in the mansion, I might add. No one else deserved it but me.

The outside of the mansion however, was not something I adored. The white paint was fading and vines encroached on the front door and windows. It was eerie, really, especially at night when the only thing that can be seen are the two faded lamps hanging near the front door on the porch. I would never tell anyone, but that is one of the main factors as to why I leave and come back with someone, although my conscious hates that I do it. But I always make up for it as soon as I set foot into the front entry way—a vast amount of space, it is—and make a dash for the grand staircase across the circular room.

I stopped beside Envy on the porch as he turned the handle to open the door, revealing a small group standing at the center of the room across from us.

The first to acknowledge us as we walked into the mansion was a young, pretty curly red haired woman whom I didn't recognize. I immediately assumed that she was Abigail.

"So there are the other two!" she chimed happily as she smiled at us.

I raised both of my brows and looked at Envy. He grunted and proceeded to continue toward the group. Gluttony stared blankly at us before he turned to waddle away with his giant index finger in his mouth like a baby. Envy had explained to me that he hasn't been the same ever since Lust was killed. He then further explained that my former self, Edward Elric, had been involved in the whole thing. Since I didn't remember that event, I decided to _not _believe him yet…my former self couldn't have been that much of an instigator, could he?

Wrath didn't do much either, but then again he didn't say much when I was in the room. Like I wasn't good enough to hear what he had to say. Or maybe he just didn't want me to hear him talk about me? I snickered at the thought. Apparently Wrath and my former self didn't see eye to eye on some things, but that was before I—Edward—died…I never did understand that whole event and I'm not sure that I ever want to.

"So, you're Pride."

I blinked and focused my violet hues on Abigail's green ones. I nodded.

She smiled, bending at her hips slightly to lean down closer to my face. I was offended by the action...like it was a condescending move, or something…insulting my height. So, I frowned.

"You have very pretty hair. Not like the others."

Well, that was one way for her to get on my good side. It made me feel special for her to say such a thing; regardless that I already thought I was better than the others. I remained silent and glanced at the only movement in the room; Wrath leaving. I then looked at Envy, who had rolled his eyes and had proceeded to stare up at the chandelier that hung from the high ceiling.

"How come he doesn't talk much?" Abigail suddenly asked and looked at Envy after she stood up straight again. She was even a little taller than Envy. I was glad for that; although I knew well that she was also taller than Wrath and Gluttony. I made a wild guess that she was at least five foot nine.

Envy grunted, "He's always been like that," he gestured toward me lazily, "Not that I care. I would prefer it if he kept his mouth shut."

I scowled; he always lumped me in with his hatred for my former self.

Abigail frowned and looked at me, "Will you talk to me, please?"

I shifted to rest my weight on my left leg; I seemed to be favoring it lately—like my body was sick of having to bare most of my weight on my right. "Okay." I said.

Immediately, Abigail's eyes lit up, like she had just won the lottery. She looked victoriously at Envy, "He has a nice voice. Why would you want him to keep his mouth shut?"

Envy barked out a laugh and rolled his eyes, not even bothering with a response as he turned his back to us and walked away.

I grinned. He was jealous.

Abigail then turned her pretty oval face toward me, "Pride," she began and placed both of her arms on her hips.

I tilted my head, and looked at what she was wearing finally. It was a simple green dress, one that accented her eyes very nicely…they reminded me of someone else's eyes…

"How old are you?"

"Two months old."

"The youngest here, then."

I didn't say anything. Wasn't it obvious?

"And you used to be Edward Elric."

I lifted a hand to brush my bangs away from my face, "That's what I've been told."

She chuckled softly before her expression saddened. I wondered why. "Do you know who created you?"

I shook my head, "No one does."

Abigail remained silent with an earnest look on her face. I assumed that she wanted me to say more.

"Envy found me in this huge place by myself. He said the place was completely destroyed and abandoned…" I scratched the side of my head, "He said I was lucky that he had been passing by when he had because the fire would've killed me without stones—" I paused to try and gather the whole memory. The pain that I had been going through at that time was more prominent in my mind than the events. "—he brought me here then. That's all I really remember."

Abigail nodded slowly. She seemed to understand why. "I'm glad that Envy found you."

I shrugged. I had been debating on whether or not it was actually good, because for about a month he couldn't look at me without scowling or speak to me without mentioning how much he hated me. I had to keep reminding myself that it was Edward he was talking about, not me. I just had his face and memories. Hell, it wasn't even my fault that I was here—I'm supposed to be _dead_.

She heaved a sigh and looked around before tying her hair back away from her face.

I tilted my head. Could I leave now?

"Well, that's all I was curious about…for now…" her brow pulled together as she lifted a hand to her temple and grimaced.

I frowned and watched her intently, unable to resist asking, "What?"

She shook her head and closed her eyes, like she was trying to concentrate on something and didn't want me to speak.

Neither of us moved nor spoke for a few long, awkwardly silent seconds before Abigail suddenly relaxed. She exhaled softly and opened her eyes to stare past me; her hand back down at her side. "…Another one," she said softly.

"Another one…of what?" I asked slowly, unsure of what to make of this.

Abigail suddenly looked at me, as if she was snapped out of some trance. "Homunculus," she continued, "There is one close to us."

I said nothing, still trying to figure out what she was talking about. Was she psychic or something?

She seemed to sense that she needed to explain, "I can sense when a homunculus is close by tapping into their mind. But not to read their thoughts…more like…see what they are seeing."

I raised my brows. So that was what must have made her so special, "…You have four in this house with you."

"I mean a new one," Abigail replied quickly, and turned to walk away from me toward a large window near the staircase. "Each homunculus has their own aura…it's what makes them so unique and makes them earn their name. I already know Envy's, yours, Wrath's and Gluttony's…" she said as she stared out the glass.

"What is this one then?"

"Confused…lethargic…"

"Sloth?"

She nodded, "We need to track it."

"Why?"

Abigail spun around. She looked hurt; like what I had said was coldhearted. "It needs help. Somehow the military has gotten a hold of it and is taking it somewhere—"

"Then we'll go."

I blinked and tilted my chin up to see Envy sitting on the balcony with a smirk on his lips. How long had he been sitting there? Abigail didn't seem surprised to see him there. I wondered if it was because of her homunculus sensor thing…

"'We'?" I asked.

Envy dropped from the balcony, only to land gracefully in a crouched position. I was never impressed; I could make that forty foot drop and be fine, too.

"You and Pride?" Abigail asked.

Envy stood straight and placed a hand on his bony hip, "Yup," he smirked, "Kid needs to make up for being too chicken earlier anyways."

I felt my cheeks burn as I looked down. It wasn't my fault that I was still against killing. My conscious didn't want me, too…

I could feel their eyes on me.

"Bring the homunculus back here," Abigail said after a few moments, "Alive. Four is a pathetic number; there should be seven of you."

At the edge in Abigail's tone, I lifted my chin to look at her. It was the first time since I had met her that she sounded so sharp about something…even her face had hardened.

Envy shrugged, "We'll bring back what we can," he stated as he started for the door; making sure to grab my arm as he passed by to drag me along.

Abigail folded her arms over her chest, "Good," she said, and just before we left, she added one more thing. "Don't get caught. But if you do, don't lead the _dogs_ back here."

I frowned and looked over my shoulder as the door shut.

_Dogs?_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update everyone, I have been really busy. But I will try to update more often now that I am back in school and have my writing class xD Note_ try_. Lawl. Anyways, enjoy/review/dance/whatever. ;]


	5. Trapped

**Author's Note:** So, I forgot to say thank you to _Spicy Lime 63_ for the review on the "A Blind Endeavor" chapter. To everyone else; don't forget to review! I never know what you guys think about my story and if you like it or not or if you see something that I should work on--that sort of stuff. Just don't be too mean, please :)

* * *

**Chapter Four**

For two months…two long and unsuccessful months Alphonse searched every damn inch of Amestris for his brother's body with Mustang and the investigations team at Central Headquarters that his brother was once in charge of as Lieutenant Colonel.

There were no clues ever found that led any of them to anything other than dead ends. It was the frustrating thing Alphonse, Mustang and the investigations team had ever dealt with and _still_ were dealing with.

"This is just getting ridiculous," Aaron Lancaster muttered as she put her face in her hands. "How does a body-a dead one—just vanish?"

"It doesn't," Mustang said grimly and shrugged out of his black overcoat to reveal the blue military uniform underneath. "Someone knows something and I'll be damned if I stop this investigation before we find out who."

Aaron dropped her hands and fixed her jade hues on the General's onyx ones. She felt the same dedication he did to finding the Lieutenant Colonel's body.

"Sir, I don't think you will find a soul in this building who doesn't want to solve this mystery."

"Just _this_ building?"

She frowned and looked away. It was a known fact, to her, that there were people out there who would say that they were wasting their time; Edward wasn't friends with everyone…his personality and morals seemed to keep himself from getting too close to people to "allow" friendship. Even her relationship with Edward had limitations…

"Here," Mustang tossed a black folder down on the oak table in front of Aaron, "We finally got the grant to get into the new lab."

Tilting her head slightly, she pulled the file closer, "The construction on lab five is done?"

"Just finished last week; the place is already up and running."

Aaron snorted, "That was fast."

He smirked, "Don't complain, we got our grant."

Aaron pushed a strand of black hair behind her ear, "I'm not complaining." She opened the folder to reveal a single white sheet of paper decorated with the typed permission from the Fuhrer and the state seal, "I'm relieved. This is the last bit of hope that we have that Edward's body might just be here in Central."

Mustang nodded in agreement, "Well, we'll know for sure tomorrow."

Closing the folder, Aaron pushed her chair back and stood with the folder in hand. "Time to call Alphonse then?"

The General folded his arms over his chest, "You're the one running this show, Major."

Aaron grinned and turned to leave, but she stopped at the door to turn her slender figure back around and face Mustang, eyes softening the slightest. "And I'm running it better than anyone else could."

Mustang raised a brow.

"…That's what Ed always said, at least."

* * *

Envy walked slower after we found the armored van. Why there was such high security being placed on a homunculus was a mystery to me, though. Weren't we supposedly hated by everyone? Well…everyone that is human.

It had actually been difficult trying to track down this new homunculus up until Envy threw a fit over having Abigail's voice suddenly force itself into his head and give us more information as to the location of the van. The incident had ultimately caused Envy and me to wonder how and why Abigail was able to probe the mind of a homunculus. It was certainly annoying…and it made me paranoid.

Using the darkness around us to keep ourselves hidden from distrustful eyes, Envy and I stopped outside a thirty foot steel security barrier with the bottom two feet being brick. It all looked new, and as I assumed, I was right. Lab five, Envy told me, was a new research facility for Central Headquarters. I wanted to know how he knew this, but I didn't ask.

Envy turned then to face me, his boney arms folded over his chest, "You're going in alone."

I felt my eyes widen, "Wh—What? Why?"

Envy rolled his eyes, clearly ignoring my sudden frantic disposition, "Training," he announced, "You need to do some things on your own. I'm not going to babysit your ass forever."

But I didn't want to do _this_ by myself!

"Look, pipsqueak—"

"_Pride_," I corrected, sudden irritation overcoming my panic in a light snap.

"—Just sneak in there and snatch the kid," Envy stated, obviously having ignored me before.

"What if I get caught?"

He scowled at my ignorance, "Rip them apart, run, do whatever! Just come back with the girl."

Peering through the bars, I rocked back and forth on my heels before I looked back at Envy. He was already walking away!

"Envy!" I hissed, now irritated.

He turned back around with his arms folded across his chest.

"Abigail said that you _and_ me were supposed to do this!"

Envy shrugged and grinned, suddenly appearing cheerful. "Yeah, well, I just changed that," he turned around and lifted a hand to wave at me, "See ya' later, pipsqueak!"

My hands curled into fists and I growled. Fine. I'd do this by myself and bring the new homunculus back. _I_ will get all the praise. _I_ will not fail.

After I stood in angry silence, just glowering in the direction Envy's boney form had disappeared in I finally turned to face the building. I needed to find a way in, and of those six stories I was sure that one window would be open.

Darting around to the back side of the building, I jumped and landed easily in a crouch on the other side of the barrier. After I straightened myself out, I took a quick glance around me before I darted for the only back door.

It was locked, of course, but that didn't stop me.

Tilting my head back, I noticed that last window on my right on the second floor was open slightly. I smirked and took a few steps back from the cement edifice before I jumped again. Catching the sill of the window, I dangled there for a moment before I pulled myself up while I used one hand to open the window wide enough for me to slip inside. When I got inside, closed the window and finally turned around, I tilted my head.

It was an office, a big, nice, clean one. As a matter of fact, if I didn't notice the books on the shelves, papers on the desk or the lab coat hanging over the desk chair, I would've assumed that this office was unoccupied. I looked around more as I walked further into the room, only to stop by the corner of the desk.

On top of a neatly stacked pile of papers lay a manila folder with five words written on it that caused my chest to tighten.

_Dr. Reynolds' Homunculus Lab Results_

I felt sick to my stomach, but another part of me rejoiced; this surely was the person who would know where that new homunculus is.

Hastily I snatched up the folder and opened it to quickly scan its contents. There wasn't much in it. At least, not yet, I assumed…because the actual experimenting hadn't begun yet. Only notes leading up to the experiment were in the folder. Which, unfortunately, they were all chicken scratch; craptastic handwriting. I frowned and flipped past those papers before I stopped at one of the last sheets; it was a small note written on a half sheet of paper.

_Test subject AH0905_

_Basement cell #36_

My brows knit as I lifted my attention to look at the desk. A map; I needed something to show me how to get down to the basement.

I closed the folder and tossed it back down onto the pile of papers before walking around the desk to look at a bulletin board that had various reminders and a calendar stuck to it. I pushed some of them aside and found nothing. Mildly agitated with this Dr. Reynolds' lack of resources, I turned to begin raiding his desk. It was there, in the middle drawer, buried under a year supply of pens was a laminated map of Lab 5. Grinning at my success, I scanned the map over and found the office I was in. Down the hall there was a staircase that would take me to the basement. There was another as well as an elevator, but I decided against using those because the humans probably used the elevator a lot and the other staircase was too far away. Before I left I also checked where cell #36 was. Fortunately, it wasn't too far from where the staircase came down, thus making my little adventure here much easier. After I memorized where it was I put the map back into the drawer and closed it before I moved around the desk to finally make one of my final steps in locating the new homunculus.

* * *

Aaron heaved a sigh as she picked up her home phone and dialed the memorized number of the Elrics'—Elric's—apartment. She waited while the other end rang and rang until finally the answering machine came on. Putting down the phone, she frowned and tapped her foot before she hung the phone up and picked it up to try the number again. Unfortunately, just like before, she got the answering machine instead of Alphonse.

She placed the phone back down on the receiver and frowned. Where was that boy? Unknowingly, her answer came when there was a knock at the front door.

Brows knit, Aaron crossed the white tile of her kitchen and into the living room where she walked to the front door. When she opened the door, she gasped.

"Alphonse!" she smiled, "I was just trying to get call you."

Looking at her with warm, almond eye, the youngest Elric flashed a meek grin. "Oh, sorry, I was out."

Aaron opened the door a little more to let Alphonse inside, "Doing what?" she asked curiously. "By the way, nice haircut—definitely different than your long hair."

Closing the door behind him, Alphonse's smile grew a little wider at the compliment. "Thanks," he lifted a hand to slide it through the shortened light brown strands of his hair, "I was at the library."

Aaron tilted her head slightly as she led Alphonse to the kitchen, "Did you run into General Mustang while you were there?"

"Yeah," how'd you know?"

"He said he was going to be stopping by there after dinner."

Alphonse nodded and stopped by the grey-topped island to lean against it. "Anyways, that's why I'm here…he said that you had something to tell me."

"I do. I'm actually surprised he didn't just tell you..." Aaron went over to a cupboard near the sink, "Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks," Alphonse moved to rest his hands in the front pockets of his khakis, "What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Closing the cupboard, Aaron turned around to face Alphonse, "Well, we got the grant from the Fuhrer to go ahead and search Laboratory Five, and Mustang and I want you to come with."

Alphonse's brows knit slightly, "The one you've been trying to get into for the last two months?"

"That's the one."

He rocked back on his heels for a moment, "When would we go?"

"Mm… More than likely it will be tomorrow afternoon," Aaron replied.

Alphonse nodded slowly, his eyes straying from Aaron's face to stare absently down at his shoes, "…I know this is kind of off topic, but do you think Ed's body is in there?"

Aaron's eyes softened and she moved to stand across from him, "I don't know, but no one will leave that building tomorrow until we know for sure that his body isn't in there," she murmured.

Looking up then, he forced a small smile, "Good."

Returning the smile with a little more heart, Aaron reached across the island and gently pat the younger's arm. She knew Alphonse didn't want anyone's pity, and there was no way she could possibly understand how he felt or how he was even coping with all of this. But because of that she felt her devotion to finding the Lieutenant Colonel's body burn more fiercely than before. She heaved a sigh and turned to the sink; Alphonse was such a sweet kid, he shouldn't have to endure so many losses in his family…

"I have to get going. I promised my neighbor that I'd help find some new homes for her cat's new litter."

Turning around, Aaron gestured toward the front door, "Alright, I'll see you out then."

Both left the kitchen silently. Only exchanging farewells when Aaron opened the door until Alphonse paused and turned to face her.

"Thanks, Major, for everything you're doing."

Aaron tilted her head and smiled, "It's not just me, you know," she watched as Alphonse chuckled and turned to leave, "I'll call you tomorrow."

"You better," Alphonse replied with a playful warning.

Aaron waved, "Take care, Al."

After Alphonse waved goodbye, Aaron closed the door, her stomach already full of butterflies from anxiety about tomorrow's long awaited events.

* * *

The basement was obnoxiously loud. Full of animals and things that I wasn't exactly sure what species they were. My memories provided me with the word _chimera_. I frowned when the word hit me, because a wave of grief seemed to be attached to it. Why would I feel such a way? I would have normally searched for the answer, but I decided against it in order to focus at the task at hand.

I passed the twenties quickly, but slowed to a halt when I finally found cell #36. It was dark inside the cell, just like the rest, but with the light from the fluorescent light bulbs above me, enough light was provided for me to make out a small, human shape huddled in the far corner of the cell. My head tilted to the side as I watched the shape for a moment to allow my eyes to adjust. When they did, I could tell the shape was definitely of a young female, and that her ouroborus was distinctly marked on the outside of her left ankle.

"Hey, you," I called softly and stepped closer to the cell.

The girl shuddered in obvious terror.

I continued, "There's no reason to be afraid of me, I won't hurt you like those humans did."

For whatever reason, that made the girl lift her head and stare at me with piercing violet eyes.

"Wh-Who are you th-then?" she asked.

I had to lean forward; her tone was raspy and barely above a whisper. "I'm just like you," well, I was better than her, but that didn't matter right now, "a homunculus."

The girl suddenly broke down into tears, her hands covering her pale visage. "That's what th-they said I-I was!"

My eyes widened and I quickly looked down each side of the hallway to make sure no one had heard the irl's crying. I was surprised when no one did; the basement was like a damn cave—everything echoed!

"Hey, shh—"

"They said I-I wasn't hu0human! I don't even kn-know how I got like th-this or what a-a homunculus even is!"

"—Calm down!" I hissed over the girl's hysterical cries, "Just because you're a homunculus doesn't mean you have to cry over it!"

She didn't listen. Instead, she sobbed and sobbed until I finally couldn't risk or take it anymore. So, with one swift movement, I grabbed two of the cell bars and pulled them apart until there was enough space for me to dart through.

The girl didn't even have time to scream before I got to her and slapped my hand over her mouth. "Shh!"

She stared at me with wide, terrified eyes.

"Please!" I glanced toward the cell door. Still, there was no one there, "I want to help you, but I can't do that if you won't be quiet," I explained quickly.

She followed my gaze before she looked back at me. Slowly, very slowly, her tears stopped and her breaths came out slow and even.

I relaxed and removed my hand from her mouth, "Thank you," I muttered gratefully.

She said nothing.

I moved to sit down beside her on the cold cement floor and watched her silently. Now that she was calm I could finally figure out how to get her out of here without being caught. While I thought, I decided that small talk might help keep the girl calm. "So what's your name?"

She slowly lifted her chin to look at me, "I don't know," she whispered.

I raised my brows and watched as she pushed her black hair away from her face.

"…Why do you want to help me?"

Frowning, tilted my head back to stare at the ceiling. I didn't respond at first. Because there were only one of three choices that I could do to respond to her; one being telling the truth while the others would avoid it. Eventually, I looked at her, "Because you shouldn't be here."

She looked at me curiously, "Where should I be then?"

I looked at her and put a smile on my face, "With people who care about you…are like you."

"Are you one of those people?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," I said, chuckling. I got to my feet and offered the girl my hand, "Now, why don't we get out of here and get somewhere safe?"

She stared at my hand before a smile spread over her lips and she nodded. But, before she could take my hand, a bright red light illuminated the cell. The girl screamed and hid her face in her knees while I whirled around to find the cell bars that I had stretched fixed and a man in a white lab coat and glasses frowning at us.

I stared, baffled, as my eyes flickered back to the girl before back to the older man.

"Well, this is unexpected…"


	6. Laboratory Five

**Author's Note:** Revised! Thank you to _Sprites Forest_ and _charzthemangaalchemist_ for the reviews!

* * *

C H A P T E R S I X

_Laboratory Five_

Pride stared, his nerves still tingling from being startled. Who the hell was this guy, and why hadn't he heard him coming?

The man adjusted his glasses, his gray eyebrows furrowed together with a frown. He didn't seem angry or pleased, just…eerily clam. "Who the hell are you?" Pride finally blurted out.

Why did he have to get into this predicament? Did Envy plan this all out as if it were some sick joke? If it was, he wasn't finding it very funny, and neither did the girl huddled in the corner of the cell.

Suddenly, a petite blonde came into view. She was much younger than the man beside her, and slender. Her short hair angled off perfectly with her defined cheekbones, which accented her maturity, but her jade eyes were soft, which kept Pride from feeling too uptight. Why was a woman like her working in a place like this?

"Dr. Reynolds…" she began hesitantly, "How did he get in here without us noticing?" she asked while Pride read her nametag; something that the older man lacked, but it didn't matter now, Pride knew his name.

_Jenna L. Richard_, it read.

"I'm not sure, but this is good news." He replied and took a clipboard that Jenna had been holding in her small hands from her to flip past a few yellow and white papers until he stopped at one and jotted something down.

"Good news?" Pride echoed skeptically.

"Well, yes." Dr. Reynolds paused to hand the clipboard back to Jenna, "You see, when I am running experiments I like to have as many…'patients' as possible. Especially if there is any sort of failure on that—" he pointed at the girl shuddering in the corner, "—young one."

Pride's eyes narrowed slightly, although his stomach churned uneasily. "…What experiment?"

Dr Reynolds smirked faintly and glanced at his assistant as she handed him a square sticky piece of paper. Through it Pride could see she had written in permanent marker:

_Test subject: AH0905_

_Test subject: AH0906_

_Basement cell #36_

"You'll find out tomorrow, I assure you."

I struggled to form a sentence. My mind was blank. My chest was tight. My eyes were wide.

I was terrified for the third time in two months…

Dr. Reynolds turned to walk away then however, his assistant was looking at Pride strangely, like she had forgotten to do something. Just then she jerked her head toward her superior. "Dr. Reynolds, do we just leave him awake? Won't he just break the bars again?"

There was a pause of footsteps before a response came, "Oh…no, you're right. Go on, Ms. Richard, I'll take care of it."

Glancing quietly back into the cell, Jenna let out a soft sigh before she left. Pride listened while the click from her heels drifted further and further away until there was nothing.

Dr. Reynolds had come back into view, but he wasn't empty handed like before. He was holding a long weapon; something that looked like a rifle. Pride doubled back near the girl, who was crying louder now after seeing the gun.

"What the hell is _that_?" he asked, his voice raspy, as if he had drunk a cup of sand.

Dr. Reynolds lift the firearm to point it right at the left side of Pride's chest before saying, "You're about to find out." He mused and pulled the trigger.

Before Pride could react a sharp pain ripped through the left side of his chest. He hissed sharply and grabbed what appeared to be a dart and ripped it out.

"Bastard!" he growled and just as he was about to attack, but suddenly, without any sort of warning his legs gave out underneath him and his eyesight became speckled. As if he had stood up too quickly after laying down for a while. His arms felt weighted down too, "W-What the hell did you do to me?" he gasped, stumbling slightly, though he caught himself on the wall.

With a smug look, Dr. Reynolds lowered the weapon to his side. "I have just given you a heavy dosage of a sedative. Enjoy the sleep while you can; it'll last several hours." He turned to leave, "Don't underestimate me; I know what makes you tick, and I know how to make it stop."

Pride collapsed to the ground, laying on his side. His eyes were heavy, and although he heard what he said he didn't have the energy to respond. He closed his eyes tightly when Dr. Reynolds' image moved away from the cell; he was so tired, and although he didn't want to give in to the sedative, he couldn't resist it.

"Damn it…" he breathed out just as the darkness took him over completely.

* * *

Jenna sighed as she leaned against the outside of cell #36 with a grim expression. She never did like having to do this to patients. Whether they were human or not locking anything up in a cage and drugging them just so they cooperate was inhumane itself. Luckily neither she nor any of the other doctors or assistants had to touch the girl with any sort of needle; she seemed too afraid to fight or flee. She just locked up. It was disheartening to see a girl like her have to go through this sort of thing, but it was for her own good…

For her human counterpart's own good.

"I said you could head home," a soft voice came from the end of the hall.

Turning her head to glance over her shoulder toward Dr. Reynolds she flashed a small smile and nodded. "I know, just wanted to stop by and see him."

Dr. Reynolds frowned and removed his glasses, tucking them into the breast pocket of his lab coat. Unlike Jenna who had removed her coat he wore his like a badge of honor; he loved what he did for a living. "Yes…it is rather disappointing to find him in this state. Of all people…" He said and stopped beside his assistant.

"How do you think this happened? I mean…I heard about his body missing from the morgue and the search reaching a dead end, but I never expected someone to try and resurrect him. I mean…everyone deserves a break...and to have a chance in the next life. Especially someone like him." Jenna murmured sympathetically, her eyes never leaving the blonde homunculus that was still in the same spot where he had fallen a few hours earlier.

Heaving a sigh, he nodded in agreement. "Yes, I agree." He paused and folded his arms across his broad chest, "But this is why I'm helping the homunculi, you know this."

Jenna nodded.

"If the changes made to my notes are right then tomorrow evening I should be able to get it right and fix him."

"You really think he is going to be the one that it'll work on?"

He smirked, "If what I have heard about Edward Elric in the past is true then I don't have a doubt in my mind that his homunculus counterpart would have any sort of problem having the strength to survive the transmutation."

"And if he doesn't?"

There was a long pause before Dr. Reynolds finally turned to walk away from the cell and say as his last response; "Then I will make sure that both human and homunculus are resting peacefully where they ought to be by Sunday morning."

* * *

Aaron yawned as she sat up and stretched her arms over her head. She was exhausted, especially since she didn't get to bed until three in the morning; she had discovered that it was damn near impossible for her to fall asleep when she kept thinking about today. Nervous excitement was all she felt. Just knowing that she could possibly be finding Edward's body today was enough to make her want to run over to Laboratory 5 in her pajamas and demand entrance while waving the grant in the guards' face. But she knew she had to wait a good three hours before she could even consider setting foot past the gate to Laboratory 5.

Pushing the covers back, Aaron swung her legs around and got up to wander out of her bedroom and down the hall to her kitchen to make a strong batch of coffee.

She was going to need it if she planned on making it through the entire day. Especially if it was going to present negative results…

* * *

Unlocking cell #36, Jenna let herself in, carrying two syringes, both filled completely with a violet liquid. Quietly and slowly she walked over to stand in the middle of the cell.

"Well, good morning." She said softly to the young girl whom had moved from her corner of the cell to the other where Edward Elric's body was still laying unconscious.

The girl didn't respond with any sort of words. Instead she squeaked and buried her face into the older form's side. Frowning, Jenna heaved a soft sigh and walked over to kneel beside her.

"You know…we aren't trying to hurt you. Dr. Reynolds is actually a really nice guy and he is trying to help you and this other guy like you be normal again." She soothed and held both syringes in her right hand while her left moved to touch the girl's shoulder. When she shied away Jenna's shoulders slumped forward a little, but she didn't stall anymore from what she had come here to do.

Taking the girl's shoulder, she gently pried her away from the other homunculus to face her. The girl didn't fight; instead she tensed up and closed her eyes tightly while whimpers passed her lips.

Looking at her when she was like this always made her feel like she was the monster here…not someone trying to help another.

Pushing aside her feelings, she brushed the girl's hair away from the right side of her neck and face before she set down one of the needles. After removing the safety covering on the one in her hand, she gently pressed the needle to the girl's neck and emptied the contents of the needle into her neck. When it was gone she removed it and patted the girl's shoulder softly. "I'm sorry if that hurt…" she whispered, knowing that the girl would be asleep within seconds.

When the girl was no longer conscious she gently laid her down to lean against the other homunculus's side then moved to take off the safety covering on the other needle and proceed to do the same thing to the already unconscious homunculus that she had the girl. It seemed a little goofy to her that Dr. Reynolds wanted them to be drugged so heavily. At least…the blonde one. But she supposed it made sense if they were to keep him under control, although in a sense they were cheating.

"Ms. Richard?"

Brushing her black skirt off, Jenna picked up the needles and the safety coverings and stood. "Yes?" she said and turned around to look at a dark skinned male dressed in a royal blue military uniform standing in front of the cell holding a white envelope with the military symbol on the back.

"I have a letter here for you and Dr. Miles Reynolds." He glanced at the envelope and held it out for her to take. "I believe it is regarding the search this afternoon." He added.

Jenna tilted her head in confusion as she stuffed the needles into the pocket of her lab coat and walked over to take the envelope and open it. "What search?"

The officer chuckled, "They only tell me so much, Ms. Richard." He said before bowing a little and leaving.

"Hmpf…" she rolled her eyes and took out the folded up letter to scan it over.

Oh no…this…was not good.

Hastily, Jenna folded the paper back up and bolted out of the cell, but making sure to lock it behind her before she took off for her superior's office on the second floor. As soon as she reached the door she flung open the door to find Dr. Reynolds standing behind his desk with his back to her looking out the window as rain splattered against it.

"Dr. Reynolds!"

Turning about while lofting a brow, Dr. Reynolds eyed his assistant then the opened envelope in her hand. "What?" he asked and took a seat at his desk once again.

Out of breath, Jenna silently stood in front of the doctor's desk and held out the envelope for him to take. "It's from Central Headquarters. I don't know why we haven't been given a heads up about this until this afternoon, but—"

"A warrant to search the entire laboratory?" Dr. Reynolds interrupted, staring at the unfolded piece of paper with wide eyes. He didn't understand how they couldn't have known about something like this. Or maybe they had been told before but they simply brushed it off? After all the only experiment he had going on just a day ago was on that little homunculus girl however, now that he had the homunculus of the Fullmetal alchemist this warrant suddenly wasn't something he could just push aside carelessly. Because not only would the military take him away, but his entire career would be ruined, and, well…who knew what would become of his experiments. The military would probably find some way to utilize them for weapons of war, no doubt; it seemed to be a thing the Amestris State Military was into these days.

"Yes," Jenna looked even more uneasy after seeing her superior's reaction to the notice. "The Investigations team is coming along with the Flame alchemist and Alphonse Elric." She added, her fingers fumbling over the hem of her red blouse nervously. "Doctor, if they see that _he_ is here…" she drifted off and wondered if Dr. Reynolds' mind was running over the same implications as hers.

"I know, I know!" he tossed the papers down on his desk and massaged his temples while he thought through his options.

Jenna waited and when he said nothing for a few moments she spoke up, "W-Well what do we do?" she stuttered.

Dr. Reynolds inhaled deeply before replying calmly, "Move both of them into the van and take them to Lab Two." Dr. Reynolds ordered. "I can't risk my career or allow those two homunculi to live the way they are now, it's torture."

Jenna's eyes nearly popped out of her head, "Lab Two?"

"It is the only other place I can do my work, go!"

Without another word Jenna turned and sprinted out of her superior's office and down the hall toward the basement. Calling for the help from a few other doctors that were on the stairs on her way down, Jenna opened up cell #36 for them to help move both of the homunculi out on stretchers and to the elevator. Taking only one of the other assistants with her to help load the two homunculi into the van, Jenna hastily pressed the button to go to the level above them so they would be able to go out the back doors and to the back lot where a group of white vans would be waiting along with a way out.

* * *

"So, anyone wanna take any bets on what we'll find?" Aaron asked as she glanced in the rearview mirror to Alphonse and First Lieutenant Cody Miller. Then she looked at the passenger seat at Mustang.

"No, because whatever I say never happens." Cody said with a roll of his eyes.

Mustang glanced back at Cody with a snort. "Then say something that you don't want to happen and the other thing will happen."

Cody sneered, "I'm not sure what I want to happen, so no."

Alphonse frowned and so did Mustang.

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked and lofted a brow as she turned down the street that led to Laboratory 5. "You don't want to find Edward's body?"

The First Lieutenant shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, I want to know what happened to Ed, I really do, but think about it… It has been two months and who knows what state it could be in. I mean, if we do find it here then we just have to do a shit load more of paperwork on what happened for it to get there. Plus, we would still have to question every single person in that building."

"So basically you just don't want to do work." Aaron stated.

"No," Cody snapped, "Major, if we find Ed's body are you really going to be that happy? I mean, if anything I'd say it was better to leave this mystery unsolved. It would make it seem like maybe he never really died."

Aaron's eyes flashed as she shot him a dirty look in the mirror again, "As a matter of fact it would be nice to have some closure, and I'm sure the General and Al feel the same way."

"Don't bring me or Al into your cat fight…" Mustang grumbled, his focus on the closed gate that surrounded Laboratory 5.

Cody and both looked away from each other abashed. It wasn't that they thought they were arguing over something silly, it was that because they both knew that talking about Edward was such a touchy subject that bringing other people's feelings into it was unnecessary as well as inappropriate. Especially since the topic had been brought up Alphonse had been dead silent in the car avoiding everyone's gaze.

As Aaron pulled up beside the small guard station outside the gate, she rolled down her window and handed the red-haired officer a green ticket. He nodded and flagged to someone beyond the gate to open it before he handed the ticket back to Aaron and returned to his guard station. Pulling the car around back and parking near the other members of the Investigation's team cars, the four got out of the car and walked up toward the back door and just as Mustang was about to open the door another guard opened it from the inside.

"General Mustang…Major Lancaster…First Lieutenant Miller…Alphonse Elric," he greeted with a salute to his superior officers before he moved to hold the door open for them.

Entering the building quietly, Mustang and Cody both removed their hats, tucking them underneath their arm as they glanced around. Aaron moved to the back where Alphonse was trailing behind. "How are you holding up?" she whispered, nudging him gently in his left arm.

Alphonse lifted his head a little more while he stood up straight more. "Fine," he replied half-heartedly.

She frowned, "Al, if you don't want to be here…"

"I said I'm fine." He reiterated, his almond eyes finding Aaron's jade ones before he sped up his walk to catch up with the General and First Lieutenant.

Aaron heaved a sigh and lifted a gloved hand to brush a few strands of dark hair away from her tanned face. She would've liked to have pushed Alphonse to talk a bit more, but she understood why he was acting such a way. After all, he wasn't the only one who had lost an older sibling. In fact, she could relate very much to Alphonse's situation seeing as still her older brother's body still hadn't been found yet after the fire back at her families' home in Xing six years ago. Maybe that was why she wanted to have this closure? For someone to at least know what happened to their only family left instead of always wondering…

"Aaron!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked ahead to see the other three standing at the end of the hall already waiting for her. There was a woman with graying brown hair with them dressed in black slacks, a baby blue blouse, heels, and a white lab coat. A scientist or an assistant, she assumed.

"Dr. Thomas here said that one of the scientists in charge of this place, Dr. Miles Reynolds, is gone for the rest of the day." Cody said when Aaron came closer.

"What? I thought we stated clearly that all staff was supposed to be here." Aaron looked to the older woman, "Does he have an assistant that can speak for him here?"

She shook her head, "Yes, but she is out as well. She doesn't work on Saturdays."

Mustang grunted.

"Is there any way you could get a hold of Dr. Reynolds?"

Dr. Thomas shook her head, "Afraid not. He is out on personal business; his daughter Lexi is sick today."

Cody arched a brow, "Isn't Dr. Reynolds married?"

"Widower."

Cody exchanged glances with Aaron before he heaved a sigh and slid a hand through his short brown hair, "Then is there someone else we can speak with about his work?"

Dr. Thomas nodded, "Of course," she gestured for the small group to follow her down another hallway adjacent to the one they were standing in, "He worked with a small group of scientists on chimeras—"

"What kind of chimeras?" Alphonse suddenly asked, which caught the other four by surprise, but they said nothing as they waited for Dr. Thomas to respond.

"Primates…we worked only with primates, my dear." She said before clearing her throat and continuing.

Aaron's brows knit slightly, "Did he have any side work?"

"No, not that anyone but his assistant would know of. You're welcome to look around his office if you would like, he keeps it very tidy." Dr. Thomas replied with a smile.

"I'd appreciate that," Aaron replied. Mustang agreed.

As Dr. Thomas went on to explain more about the chimera project that Dr. Reynolds worked on, more people from the Investigations department were seen walking throughout the building either accompanied by someone in a white lab coat or a security guard. And it wasn't until they had gone back down to the second floor after meeting with a few scientists from Dr. Reynolds' group that Aaron and Mustang broke off to search the doctor's office while the other three proceeded to the basement where Dr. Reynolds' kept all his chimeras.

"Well, she was right…" Aaron said in admiration as she closed the door behind her.

"Yeah. But his officer is almost too clean…" Mustang remarked as he walked around Dr. Reynolds' neatly stacked pieces of paper on his desk.

Aaron shot Mustang a loaded look before she rolled her eyes. "Just because you can't keep your office clean doesn't mean that the rest of the world keeps theirs the same way."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that just because this place is immaculate doesn't mean that Dr. Reynolds wanted to hide something." Aaron laughed and flicked at a dustless lamp shade.

"It also doesn't mean that he _did_ want to hide something."

Eyes narrowing slightly, Aaron glanced over toward Mustang and dropped the subject. She didn't want to argue with him over something silly like this. Instead she kept quiet and moved to the large bookshelf on the wall across from the desk near the door. Every single one of the texts were all science based. Some talking about alchemy and others about math and earth science, something Aaron didn't see as unusual in her eyes.

For three hours they looked through every single file, book, and Dr. Reynolds' computer for anything unusual, and as they had began to assume an hour earlier there was nothing to be found.

"Find anything?" Cody asked, leaning against the doorframe with Alphonse at his side. The Elric looked less happy than he had earlier. They must not have found anything either, and whoever they ran into from the Investigations department must have told them the same bad news.

Aaron shook her head and so did Mustang as they finished glancing through one of Dr. Reynolds' last file on his computer before they closed it down. "Nope," she replied less than enthusiastically. "The doctor is as clean as someone can get."

"So, he's the typical 'dad just doing his job' kind of guy?" Cody rolled his eyes, "Great. So are the rest of these people. Hell, if you ask me this place is almost too perfect. Nothing seems to go wrong here."

Mustang frowned, "I mentioned the same thing earlier." He paused when Aaron shot him a dirty look, "However, since we have no hard evidence that Fullmetal's body could be here then we can't point any fingers."

The group stood in silence then as things were finished being put back in their proper place. All of them were thinking about how excited they had been to finally get the warrant to search this place, and then how heartbreaking it is to find out after hours of searching that there was nothing here after all; their last hope that Edward's body might just still be in Central.

"We aren't going to give up though, right?" Alphonse asked as Mustang and Cody started down the hall with him. Aaron was still back in the room glancing over things one last time just for good measure.

Mustang exchanged a solemn look with Cody, "No," he looked at Alphonse. "We'll keep looking."

Aaron sighed hopelessly as she plopped down in one of the two black cushioned armchairs in front of Dr. Reynolds' desk. She sat with her chin in the palm of her right hand and her eyes closed. "You know…it was hard enough trying to keep track of you while you were alive," she murmured, "Couldn't you have given us all a break when you died? Or at least give us some sort of clue?" she asked to no one. Well…no one visible.

In her eyes she could see Edward sitting beyond the desk and staring down at the paperwork that he always complained about signing. He always worked diligently when he wanted to, and even though he always said he hated his job she knew he loved saving and helping people. He always did…his selflessness made him the perfect person for the job too.

She watched him for a long moment as if waiting for an answer, but when she got none she closed her eyes. "No…of course not…" she whispered with a sad smile and opened her eyes to find her beloved friend and his paperwork was gone. Reluctantly, Aaron gathered herself together and stood to head for the door. "It would be—" she paused suddenly as the tip of her left foot left one of the wooden floorboards. "What the?"

Rocking back to the heel of that same foot Aaron listened to the odd creak the floor made. That was odd. Moving her foot off of the floorboard as she kneeled down Aaron knocked against the wood a few times and when she pulled her hand away she had decided on something.

This was a false board.

Retrieving a dagger from inside her black military boot Aaron stabbed it into the board. Surely enough the board cracked and as she pulled the dragger away she could see blackness beneath it just like she had expected. Making the slit bigger and more of a makeshift oval, Aaron set her dagger down and reached her hand down into the floor and felt around. At first she simply felt the outer edged of more wood, but as she slid her left hand further to the left of the small rectangular space she felt something leathery, like a small pocket book.

Brows knit, Aaron pulled the small book out and looked at the black cover and spine.

"Huh…" Tilting her head she flipped through the pages. All she saw was text she didn't understand a strange alchemy circles. The language was English, but it didn't make any sense. It was more like…it was written in code. Perplexed she flipped to the inside of the cover to find something that made her heart stop and her blood turn cold.

_The Theory of Reverse Human Transmutation_

_By: Dr. Miles G. Reynolds_


	7. Time Isn't On Our Side

**Author's note:** These updates are taking forever! Sorry again for the lateness D: I have been very busy with getting ready for college and such. I already have in mind what I'd like to write for the next chapter, so maybe it'll go quicker.

To _xXxSandwich-chanxXx_: I am writing more! No worries, I fully intend on finishing this story. To your question regarding Pride!Ed; when Pride is conscious in the story I write his bit in first person. I do this for several reasons, but the homunculi (like Envy and the others in that mansion), are the only ones who know that he is Pride. Everyone else just sees him as Edward Elric's homunculus, they don't really have a name for him save for the experiment name "_AH0906"_. That's great though that you have found some authors that are restoring your faith! I promise this is not going to be a mushy or lemon filled story. xD -crosses fingers-

To anyone else, if you have any questions or just want to leave a comment those are always appreciated and I'l make sure to answer your questions!

* * *

C H A P T E R S E V E N

_Time Isn't On Our Side_

Aaron turned the leather bound book over in her hands, tracing the worn spine before she flipped through the pages again. She didn't understand anything that was written, and she assumed that was the intent of the book's author. "Reynolds…Reynolds…" she chewed on her bottom lip before it struck her. Dr. Miles G. Reynolds had to be the same man Dr. Thomas had mentioned earlier as far as being one of the few scientists absent from the laboratory.

"Major?"

Visibly jumping, Aaron tucked the book inside her coat hurriedly before she turned around to meet Cody's questioning gaze.

"C'mon, we're heading out."

Aaron hesitated before she cleared her throat, "Right, we should go." She flashed a smile and passed Cody in the doorway quickly. She wanted to tell him what she had found, but another part of her; the part that longed to decipher this book for herself, told her not to. What good would it do anyone if she handed the book over to Cody or Mustang and didn't even know what anything meant? Nothing.

Cody stared after her, both brows raised. Weird, that was all he was thinking, but then again, maybe this whole case was starting to get to Aaron.

…Or maybe it was starting to get to all of them?

* * *

Disheveled, Abigail's red curls stuck out at every angle as she laid on the silk sheets of her bed. She was alone, not because she wanted to be, but because she was trying to focus on one of her missing sins.

Pride.

She had sent him long ago with Envy to fetch the newly born homunculus, however, all that returned to her was the envious sin. It had been both a disappointing and irritating thing, but instead of trying to find Pride immediately, she decided to wait; to try and lock on Pride's or the girl's aura to hook into their thoughts and find out what exactly was happening. So far there had been no luck, and because of that her nights had been restless.

The last thing she needed or wanted was to lose two homunculi, especially when lacking numbers was something that would be detrimental to her future plans.

"Or maybe it'll just fuel the fire…" she wondered aloud.

It would. Her plans against Central Headquarters all concerned the state's skepticism and disliking toward homunculi. So, to know that the state took two more non-humans into their grasps to play with them like dolls only meant that she would have more worth fighting the state for to get her revenge. Yes, either way—whether Pride and the girl returned or not—she would win in the end.

* * *

"You sure you're alright, Major?" Cody asked as he leaned forward in his seat. He was trying to get a peek at her expression; however, Aaron had cleverly shifted her hair and face so the only one who could see her face was her reflection in the front passenger window.

"Leave her alone, Miller." Mustang groaned from the driver's seat. This had been the First Lieutenant's sixth time since they left the laboratory asking her whether she was okay, and honestly, it was getting on his nerves.

Cody slumped back in his seat, "Sorry for caring?" he grumbled.

Mustang said nothing; neither did anyone else as they drove Alphonse back to his apartment. It was only after the Elric was finally out of the car and safely inside the brick edifice that Aaron looked away from the window, her detached expression had been etched with concern as she looked at the General. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

Cody lifted his hands up toward the roof of the car dramatically; "She speaks!"

Aaron cast the First Lieutenant a dull stare, "I was only quiet because I didn't want Alphonse in here when I told you both about this—" she paused briefly to retrieve the little book she had found early, "—I found it in Dr. Reynolds' office after everyone had left."

Cody leaned forward, eager to see what Aaron was holding while Mustang could only take his eyes off the road briefly to look at the material. "What is it about?"

"It's Dr. Reynolds' theory on 'Reverse Human Transmutation'." And just as the words left her lips a thick silence circled around the car. Aaron hesitated before she continued. Human Transmutation was always a sore topic, and with Edward in the back of their minds…well…things seemed to suddenly take on an even darker theme, as if everyone in the car was making the same assumption. "I…wanted to study this…maybe it would help us in finding out what happened to Edward's body."

"Or maybe it is just some random ass coincidence?" Cody offered grimly.

Aaron doubted that, and from the look on Mustang's face he was thinking the same thing she was. "Maybe, but…"

"We don't have time to study the material." Mustang interjected. "If this Dr. Reynolds is tied to Edward somehow then we have to locate Dr. Reynolds."

"That woman back at the lab said that he was at home with his kid." Cody looked between his two superiors, "We could get his address then go interrogate the guy."

"It's worth a shot." Aaron agreed, "And it looks like it is our only option if we aren't going to try and understand what exactly is written in this book." She added.

Mustang turned in to the back parking lot of Central Headquarters, and once the car was off he turned in his seat to look at both Aaron and Cody. "Alright, in less than ten minutes I want us back out here with Dr. Reynolds address and I want printed copies of all the work he has done at Lab Five and if he does any other work anywhere else; if he does, I want that information too."

"Yes, sir." Both Cody and Aaron said in unison before they got out of the car and followed Mustang inside.

* * *

When I opened my eyes everything I saw was unfamiliar.

The walls were dusty, the lighting was terrible, and the floor, as well as my feet, were covered in sawdust. I was grateful it was only my feet, although I wasn't too pleased to find that I was chained to a chair. "Disgusting…" I lifted my head. Why was I so aware? Usually I felt disorientated or groggy, but right now…I felt fine. It made me feel uneasy. And what made that feeling worse was the fact that nowhere did I see any glimpse of a white lab coat. Nor did I see my cell buddy.

When a door behind me opened I turned my head to see who had come into the room. Sure enough it was Grey Hair and his assistant. Both had crimson splatters on their coats, and a little on their face. I forced myself not to ask where the little girl was just in case the answer was something I didn't want to hear, which, I knew it wasn't.

"Wondering why you're here?" Grey Hair asked and left the woman's side to move towards me slowly.

I tensed, "It's on my list of questions, but not the one I'm most concerned about."

He stopped suddenly with a curious expression. "Oh, really? What's that?"

"You haven't told me what the experiment was that you wanted to conduct."

"Well, that's because I told you that you were going to find out…today." He smiled, though it wasn't a comforting one. It made my skin crawl; he was way too excited about something, but there was also a hint of concern in his eyes...doubt. I didn't know what it was about, obviously, but I wanted to know so maybe I'd be able to talk him out of doing this experiment of his—if that's what the worry is about.

"Why can't you just tell me? Either way you seem pretty damn sure that you are going to go through with this either way, so what would it matter if you just told me?" I snapped; I was irked with this guy's reluctance.

I watched as Grey Hair pursed his lips together and moved to kick at some of the sawdust on the ground. Soon enough a white line was visible, then other figures began to be revealed. I didn't' recognize all of them, but as soon as enough of the markings were revealed I was able to realize one thing that made an icy shiver run down my spine.

This was a transmutation circle.

"Very well," he drew in a deep breath before he continued. "Reverse Human Transmutation."

I stared while struggling to form a sentence. "W-What?"

"Reverse Human Transmutation," he reiterated, "that's why you are here… You see," Grey Hair began to walk around the perimeter of the transmutation circle slowly; as if he were a lion stalking his prey…_me_. "Ten years ago my wife was diagnosed with cancer. She passed away three months later. It was a tragedy, one that hit me so hard that I began to fall ill. I moved from Drachma soon after to Central, wondering if that would help start my new life. It did." He smiled faintly, "I met a young man, Colonel Moore—great man—he was kind and understanding about my wife's death. And along with his personality was success; he was an accomplished alchemist. While he was more aware of medical alchemy, he had also done quite a bit of research on human transmutation, and well…you can imagine what him and I were soon talking about after establishing our friendship..." He chuckled.

My eyes narrowed skeptically; I knew he wanted this information to all sink in, for me to begin to understand and believe that he wasn't the "bad guy" here, that he was trying to help me. But the funny part was that I didn't _want_ or _need_ his help with anything, regardless if he was a good or bad guy. I was content with who I was—a homunculus named Pride. "So, what? You pay him to bring your wife back?" I finally asked although I knew the answer was obvious.

He smiled that happily eerie smile, "Precisely."

"…And?" I pressed, ready to hear the answer I knew was coming.

"It didn't work," Gray Hair finally stopped walking. "My wife did come back, yes, but not like herself. More like…you. Well, your species at least." There was a pause, "Colonel Moore died six months after the transmutation. Even today I wonder how he managed to live for as long as he did… Anyways, I got a job soon after that to work in the labs for the state; it had always been something I was interested in." He explained, "I kept my wife in the same place I kept you and that girl in; the basement of a research facility. I kept her alive as long as I possibly could; running tests to see how I could help her, and inadvertently becoming familiar with her body structure. As you can probably tell, I was fascinated with my findings…"

"That's how you knew what molecules to use to make the injection in order to knock us out." I muttered, beginning to put the pieces together.

Gray Hair nodded, "Correct. The injection I created doesn't work like your typical sedative. Because in order to render a homunculus unconscious you must be able to stop their immune system, since, when you inject them with a normal sedative their body simply fights off that drug. But mine is special, not that I am going to tell you, of course, but I will say that it is like injecting an infant with a heavy dosage of venom from a rattlesnake." He tapped his chin absently.

"So…you've been poisoning me?"

He shrugged, "Something like that." Gray Hair cleared his throat and returned to the original subject, "As I learned more about homunculi I discovered something spectacular, even more exciting than that sedative; a loophole in human transmutation—a way to truly bring your loved ones back if you have the right tools." With that he drew something from inside his lab coat; a vile containing a thick red liquid. Blood. "This—" he held the vile out toward me so I could see it better, "—is a vile containing some DNA from Edward Elric; the appearance of whom you have taken. It is what connects him still to this world even if his soul is trapped in the Gate."

I snorted, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does!" Gray Hair grinned, "How do you think you were able to be created? Because surely, as you know, not all human transmutations work, only some. Do you know why?" he paused, but not long enough for me to reply, "Because even with Edward Elric's soul leaving earth he still had DNA that was very much so alive here being preserved here." He pointed at the ground, "When the human transmutation begins the body is sensitive enough to pick up on these very familiar, very unique red blood cells and bring itself into artificial consciousness…that being a homunculus, since you all don't have souls. But you know that." He began walking again, "So, I believe that if you simply reverse this transmutation, using the components that were here on earth when the original transmutation occurred you can call the soul back to its body. While this would seem nearly impossible or incredibly difficult to do, I believe it will work, because it worked for my wife." He stated, smiling softly.

I was skeptical, but still surprised to hear that, "Where is she then?"

His smile faded, "Dead. She committed suicide after realizing what I had done…" he stated grimly, but pushed that fact aside. "She knew it was wrong what I had done, but I knew part of her was relieved that her body was no longer being used as a homunculus. That way she could finally rest in peace…I had her cremated after her death too, just to make sure that I didn't try anything to bring her back ever again."

"But you're willing to try it on someone else even after that lesson?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Of course! Because what if Edward Elric—who I do very well intend to bring back—is not angry, but grateful of his return? After all, it was a shame how he died, and at such a young age…"

I swallowed, there was a lump rising in my throat as fear slowly began to crawl underneath my skin. "Wha-What about side effects?" I asked, "There has to be some sort of price."

"Ah, yes, well, the man I hired to do the transmutation for me did pass away during the transmutation, but this time I fully intend on doing it myself." He paused, "There is also one other thing that could happen… See, since technically you do have a part of your human counterpart within your body right now, there is a possibility that I could end up bringing Edward back and keeping you here as well. Of course, that would mean the body would practically split itself, or just create a replica…" he drifted off, now mumbling to himself so I couldn't hear. I made the assumption that he hadn't thought that part through completely.

But awesome, just fucking fantastic. I would either die, or be ripped apart. Honestly, if I could choose, I would rather die. "You're insane, you know that? You have no idea if this theory of yours will even work again!" I shouted, frustrated.

Grey Hair had pursed his lips together once again and seemed to ignore me while he walked around the rest of the circle, brushing more of the sawdust aside to reveal the circle until it was completely uncovered; save for a few parts near me, but I assumed that they didn't matter if Grey Hair wasn't willing to come closer. When he finished he nodded toward the woman. She soon left, but not before leaving both of us with a hopeful smile.

"Now then," he rubbed his hands together and smiled. He actually looked normal this time around, but that didn't keep me from going rigid when he knelt down near the perimeter of the circle. "Ready?" he asked as he took the vial of blood and poured some of it within the circle.

"No," I muttered grimly.

Grey Hair waved me off before he brought his hands together in front of his chest. He held the clap for a moment before he finally pressed both of his hands to the edge of the circle.

Immediately the lights in the room went out, leaving us in darkness until the transmutation circle turned red, then purple. The light swirled and danced around me, blocking Grey Hair from my view until I saw nothing. Following the darkness was a sharp pain in my chest that forced me to scream; it hurt, and bad. I looked down to find a hand that had shoved itself into my chest; there was no face, no body, just an arm, and when it finally pulled out of my chest I could just barely make out what looked like a heart before it vanished.

A heart…

_My heart…?_

I hit the ground hard, disorientated. Everything was black. Blacker than black; it was a true darkness—an endless abyss of somewhere or of something I'd never seen or been to before. I panicked. Was this the Gate?

"Pride..."

I stared upwards where a pair of fiery amber hues were boring down at me. It was too dark to see their face, but I felt as if I knew this aura. I focused harder, but before the name could surface from my lips pain struck me again in my stomach.

I looked down, and in horror I watched as I was literally torn in half with an invisible blade.

* * *

It took nearly thirty minutes to reach Dr. Reynolds' home outside of the city. It was more time then what Mustang or any of them had wanted to waste getting there, and it meant that they would have to execute their plan quicker; get inside, speak with Dr. Reynolds or his daughter, figure out what this theory of his means, and then find Edward before the unexplainable happened.

Aaron was the first to the door and didn't hesitate to knock and ring the doorbell. It took a few moments, but sure enough someone was home and running to answer the door. As it swung back a girl, looking to be in her early teens stood in the doorway. She had short, choppy brown hair that was mostly covered by a pink beanie that she wore as if it were the middle of winter out. Her attire was the exact opposite. It was puzzling, but, neither of the officers were experts on why teenagers did the things they did.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Her smile had faded into a frown when she noticed that the three standing on the front porch before her were all working for the state.

Mustang cleared his throat and stepped forward, "Hopefully… This is the home of doctor Miles G. Reynolds, correct?"

The girl hesitated, "Yeah…that's my dad."

"Then you're his daughter Lexi?" Aaron asked and stepped into view.

She nodded.

"Is your dad here?" Mustang asked.

Lexi glanced over her shoulder before shaking her head and answering, "No. He went to go run a few errands."

"But we were told that he came home to be with you today because you were sick." Mustang loft a brow, suddenly skeptical. "Shouldn't he be here?"

"He's getting my medication; hence the errands." Lexi replied without hesitation. "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I was right in the middle of doing something. Do you think you could come back later? My dad should be home around nine."

Cody glanced at his watch, "That's in three hours." He informed everyone.

Mustang nodded, "We'll be back."

With that the trio turned and head back to their car. As soon as the front door was shut and they weren't concerned about being overheard, they stopped and looked at one another.

"Think she's lying?" Cody asked.

Aaron nodded, "I was watching her eyes the whole time. Cerulean is a hard color to not admire."

Cody snorted, "Awesome, but do you mind filling us in on why you think she was lying instead of your fascination with _cerulean_?"

"She looked down and to the left nearly half the time she answered Mustang. Usually when someone is lying they don't make eye contact. Not unless they are incredibly good liars. A girl this age and not involved with anything that would teach her something like that means it is pretty obvious."

"But she didn't hesitate when she answered."

"Doesn't matter; that could be something she is used to saying." Aaron stated. Cody rolled his eyes and got into the car. "Don't pout, Cody; this is why the interrogating was always either left up to me or Edward." She laughed and got in along with Mustang.

"Whatever," Cody fastened his seatbelt. "So what do we do now? Go back to headquarters and dig around for some more information on this guy?"

"Yes and no." Mustang answered.

Aaron and Cody waited for him to elaborate.

"We are going to do some more digging, but not at headquarters—"

"Lab Five." Aaron muttered.

Mustang nodded, "I want another sweep of his office, and of the building."

"Sounds like a plan." Cody stretched his arms above his head. "You know, who would've thought that a dead person could make for such an exciting case." He pointed toward the ceiling, "Elric, wherever you are; thank you for always making this job entertaining."


	8. Lazarus

**Author's Note**: Hooray for chapter eight! Thank you to all of you who have been reading my story. Don't forget to leave a comment if you get the chance or want to. I'll take advice, questions, constructive criticism, or anything like that. Also, if you would like me to read some of your work and review, I would be more than happy to! Also, just as a side note, I am doing a lot of revising to this story. So, if you are a little thrown off right now by how the chapters are displayed, don't freak out, they will all be uniform soon.

* * *

C H A P T E R E I G H T

_Lazarus_

Pumping his legs as fast as he could, Edward found himself exiting the neighborhood and passing the first building that towered ahead; marking the first street of downtown Central. Rounding the corner, Edward once again, hollered ahead at Sam, listening as the people he passed on the street chuckled or gasped, mumbling about how _unfortunate_ it was to be chasing a dog, or muttering insults about how the Sheppard should be better trained. The last remark didn't make him feel as bad considering Sam wasn't his dog.

Soon enough he came to it; Vine and Windsor—one of the busiest intersections in downtown Central. He shouldn't have been worried about Sam getting hit, she was already weaving in and out of cars and was safely on the other side of the street. No, he should've been worried about himself getting hit, but his selflessness took over and instinct drove him out into the street. The first sedan he dodged barely, and the van in the next lane stopped just in time to avoid hitting him.

"S—!"

_BAM!_

Something had rammed into his side, shattering his ribcage with such force that when he hit the ground he swore he could hear his head crack open on the cement. Blood gathered in his mouth as suddenly people were standing over him, asking him stupid questions like, _"Are you okay?"_ or _"Do you need an ambulance?"_. He couldn't speak; the pain seemed to have vanished; as if his body had done him mercy and had canceled it out. But he knew that wasn't true…he was dying…this was the end. Who would've thought that something so typical like this would happen to someone as untypical as himself?

Strange how fate worked that way…

Before his vision faded completely someone had pushed their way through the crowd and was soon kneeling so close to him it would be ridiculous to not recognize who they were.

Edward Elric.

"Wait a second…" he whispered, "Am I dreaming…?"

Suddenly, everything became very real as his eyes snapped open to the sound of an alarm clock flashing _8:00pm_ at him so profoundly he had to close his eyes and rub them before reaching over and turning the stupid thing off. He grimaced just as his finger hit the button.

He hurt.

His entire body hurt.

It wasn't that kind of _oh, this will feel fine later_ hurt. It was real pain, and even moving a finger sent pain rocketing up the length of his arms. His only thought was that he could still possibly be dreaming or he really had been hit by a car and someone had brought him back home, or taken him to their house to take care of him. He could only think of a few people who would do that, but he lacked the effort to really sort out where he was so he could call for them to come into the room.

"Sorry about the alarm clock, I forgot to turn it off.."

Edward's brows knit as he slowly rolled over onto his side to face the door. He met a pair of cerulean eyes, belonging to a girl looking to be in her early teens. "Who the hell are you?" he didn't mean to be blunt, but he couldn't help it; he was sincerely confused, and the pain wasn't helping keep his agitation at bay if answers weren't provided.

The girl made a face; scrunching up her nose and narrowing her eyes slightly. "Lexi," she answered flatly. She didn't seem interested in exchanging names or any sort of information. "And I already know who you are, so don't waste your breath by telling me."

Well if he had been blunt, she was having no problem returning the favor. He was glad that she had bothered to tell him what her name was, but what he wasn't so pleased with was the amount of questions he had and how difficult they were possibly going to be to get answered from a brat.

"Alright, and how do you know that? I've never seen you before in my life." He said slowly.

There was a long sigh, "That's because there would've been no reason for you to know me before you were brought back, genius." She paused, "I mean…you do remember what happened, right?" Lexi entered the room hesitantly.

Edward's lips pressed into a tight line. What did he remember exactly…?

"Getting hit by a car."

Lexi chewed on her bottom lip. The action was something Edward took badly, and he slowly—ignoring the shooting pain through his left side—sat up. "What is it?"

"Nothing, just that…a lot has happened, especially to you since that accident." She finally moved to sit down on the edge of the bed, "Like…the transmutation just a few hours ago."

A chill raced down Edward's back as he tried to understand without Lexi telling him outright what happened with the transmutation. "What transmutation…?"

Lexi looked away from Edward, debating whether or not to shed some light on the subject.

Edward's jaw tensed and he looked away briefly. "It wouldn't have happened to be a human transmutation by any chance, was it?" he asked stiffly.

"Sort of," Lexi studied Edward's suddenly dark expression carefully. She decided to take the look as a warning and was careful with her words. "Reverse human transmutation."

Edward cut her a sharp look, every muscle in his body rigid. "There's no such thing."

Reverse human transmutation? Was that even possible? Hell, what did that even consist of? Obviously it was bending the rules of science in a way they never should be bent, and why would someone even want to discover something like that? Sure, he got the whole _mourning for a loved one_ part, but still, there were lines that just weren't meant to be crossed. And human transmutation, no matter how you went about it, was one dark subject that no one should ever tamper with.

"Actually, Mr. Prodigy, there is."

"And you would know?"

"Yes, I would."

"How?"

Lexi stood up and put her hands on her small hips, "Because my dad is the one who came up with it."

Edward shook his head and looked away to close his eyes and focus on staying calm. The questions were beginning to seriously pile up now. How was he alive if he had died? Who is her dad? Why was he in so much pain? Why wasn't he a homunculus? Why didn't he remember anything about the Gate or any 'white light' when he was moribund?

"Oh, by the way, your soreness will be prolonged since you have your _entire_ body to worry about now."

Edward's eyes snapped open, "Come again?"

"Ugh…did being dead damage your hearing?" she reached for his right arm, and unlike Edward was expecting, she yanked on it, causing him to hiss sharply from the pain.

"Will you stop touching me?" he snapped and jerked his arm back to study it. It was real. No automail anywhere on his arm. And his leg? He moved it, and sure enough he could really _feel_ the bed and sheets beneath him. "How is this possible…?" he whispered.

"Honestly? I don't know, but be grateful that my dad's idea actually worked." She grinned.

Edward inhaled slowly and moved his index fingers to massage his temples. "Excellent. So, please explain to me what happened again, and how the hell I am here right now?"

Lexi chewed on her bottom lip, "Well…" she began slowly, "From what I was told, you died three months ago, then you went missing for a while, then a homunculus version of you showed up at my dad's work for some reason and he helped bring the real you back. So, here you are now, resting in bed. Any more questions?"

He cast the teen a dull stare, "Yeah, I do. Here's one; how was your dad able to bring me back, let alone as a new and improved me? There has never been any rumors concerning 'reverse human transmutation'."

"Hah! Let's not get carried away. My dad isn't a superhero, so there is a pretty good chance you're a little messed up. And to tell you the truth—like I have been—I don't know much about my dad's work, although I do know his goal was to help those that were wrongly brought back through a human transmutation." She shrugged.

Edward inhaled slowly; if Lexi couldn't give him exact details there was only one other person that could. "I need to speak with your dad right now."

"Can't."

"And why the fuck not?" he gritted his teeth together; things were beginning to seriously ride on his nerves. Why would anyone be stupid enough to try and bring someone back from the dead? And why had it worked?

Lexi scowled the second Edward's foul language hit her ears, "Because he's been unconscious for the last hour, so relax and sleep like I said you should. You're getting upset over nothing—"

"Over nothing? Hah!" Edward barked out a laugh, "I should be _dead _right now; buried in the ground or rotting in hell, either one, but definitely not alive. I don't know about you, but that isn't 'nothing'!"

With that Edward pushed aside his pain and stood, but he was quickly intercepted by Lexi. "Oh, no, no, no, where do you think you're going?" she shoved him right back down onto his back, ignoring the sharp cry of pain.

"To take of things myself since you aren't being any help!" Edward spat, his cheeks becoming flushed with anger.

Lexi wasn't fazed by the look and didn't think twice when she said, "I don't care. You've been dead for almost three months. And if that doesn't make sense to you, think about how weak your muscles are right now. You'd trip and fall before you even reached the door."

Edward looked away, jaw clenched.

There was a moment of long silence while Lexi struggled to break it. She understood why he was so freaked—"

"I'm not freaked."

"…_Ri—ight_, sure you aren't." She rolled her eyes, "Anyways, try to think of this in a positive way. Do you know how lucky you are to be here right now? This isn't something that happens to anyone. How _you_ came to be the one that this happened to, I don't know, but you should be excited to see the faces of people you haven't seen for months."

"What would you have me tell those people?"

"…Uhm…well you could start by saying 'hello,' I guess…"

"That's not what I mean."

Lexi frowned, "Well, I don't have a better answer for you other than that. Sure, people will a little freaked out by the fact that you're back, but you're smart; just come up with some lie." She shrugged.

Edward said nothing in response to Lexi's suggestion. He couldn't believe he was even letting himself take in advice from a control freak.

A lie.

Well no shit he had to come up with one. Things would take an ugly turn if he told people the truth; that yes he had died, and had somehow been mysteriously brought back to life by a random guy. Then, while people would be poking and prodding at him as if he were some vampire or zombie, others would be questioning him about what it is like to die or if there really is a heaven or hell

"Well, I'm going to go check on dad." Lexi's voice came from the doorway. Edward hadn't even noticed that she had moved there. "Please sleep before I consider chaining you to the bed."

Edward shot the girl a dirty look, surely sending an unspoken threat if she tried.

Lexi turned to leave then, but before she left she placed a hand on the door and turned to look at Edward one last time. "Look, I know that this is all really overwhelming, but there isn't anything you can do about it now. So, just accept it and move on…" she offered hesitantly. "Just think of this as a blessing in disguise." She smiled before finally leaving, closing the door behind her.

A blessing in disguise?

Yeah right.

All this is…is cheating death.

* * *

Edward hated admitting that people were right, but Lexi definitely had been. His muscles were sore and nausea was his enemy the moment he took three steps toward the door. He tried to ignore that, but his legs gave out on him and instead of catching himself, his face smacked against the floor and he had to drag himself back to the bed, defeated. So, to pass the time, he spent the last forty-five minutes staring at the clock, watching the minutes of his so called _second chance_ at life slip away.

He also spent the time thinking about his last thought before Lexi left to go be with her dad. Cheating death. Yes, this was all this "reverse human transmutation" crap was doing/ It wasn't feasible! When you die, you die. Dead things shouldn't be played with, but apparently not everyone had the same opinion there; someone brought him back through a human transmutation, and his homunculus counterpart was created. Then, someone wanted to help him in a bizarre way of, not leaving him dead, but bringing him back.

"Can't this crap happen to someone else for a change…?" Edward mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow. Just then he heard a the loud _thud_ of a fist banging against something echo through the house; someone was either at the front door or banging on the walls. Brows knit and he slowly pushed himself up to stare at the closed bedroom door. He heard footsteps pass by his door, and soon enough the sound of the front door opening hit his ears. There were muffled voices, hardly audible, but he could definitely tell that there were more than two people.

Curiosity gripped him as he rolled off the bed and onto all fours. He crawled to the door, and while using the door-handle and dresser near him to stand up and press his ear against the door. He still couldn't distinctly make out any familiar voices, but he was positive that the higher pitched one belonged to Lexi.

He frowned as the voices stopped and multiple footsteps started coming down the hall. Edward dropped his eyes to the light that shone through the crack in door, to see that whoever was in the hallway had stopped right outside his door. There was some whispers that were lost through the density of the door, but someone else was coming into the hallway, and talking much louder.

"Look, I know all three of you military snakes think I'm lying, but I'm not! My dad still isn't home, and no one else is here! I've been alone since my dad left to go get my medicine."

"We have a warrant to search the house, and if there is no one else here then you should have nothing to worry about."

Edward his head away from the door; he knew that voice…

He moved to press his ear back against the door, however, when he felt the door handle turning against his hip he tensed, and when the door was pushed open, he automatically pushed it right back shut from his weight against the door.

"What the...?"

Edward swallowed, he knew that voice too.

Without warning, the door suddenly flung open with such force that he felt his nose shift to the side with a gut wrenching crunch and he was flung back against the wall with a groan.

Edward crumbled to the floor, hardly aware that three familiar faces were staring down at him with wide eyes. "Oh my God…"

"Whoaaa," there was a laugh, "okay, this is freaky."

Edward cracked open his eyes, first catching a familiar pair of dark eyes, though now they were worn from stress and lack of sleep. Both his hands cradled his nose, though his attempt to stop the waterfall of blood was hardly working. His nose was definitely broken, and the blood didn't fail to provide proof that it was as it dripped from his hands and face. Thankfully, his shirt was black, but the blood stained the denim of his pants instantly.

Cody stepped forward, not seeming as stunned as his co-workers. Grasping Edward's left elbow, he hoisted him up, and when he noticed that his superior couldn't stand on his own he took his arm and slung it over his shoulders while wrapping his own arm around Edward's back.

"Fullmetal," Mustang said the name slowly. His eyes were tight with skepticism, unlike Aaron who was gaping at him. "You're…_alive_."

Edward closed his eyes; he wasn't going to respond to stupid statement like that when he was in pain.

"A-And you have your arm back," Aaron sounded like she had been holding her breath since she came into the room. "Is your leg…?"

Edward groaned, he could feel his face swelling and his pain had returned with vengeance that was making him nauseous again. "Bed." He managed through his hand, eyes opening.

Everyone in the room seemed to understand that he was in pain, and Mustang stepped forward to take Edward's elbow and steer him toward the bed. Once he was seated, the general pursed his lips together. No one seemed sure of what to do. Seeing Edward alive and right under their noses after all this searching was too much of a shock. Not enough for there to be crying and hugging, but to give almost a sense of feeling that nothing had ever been wrong; that this was just another case and they had just rescued Edward from being held captive by some teenager.

Well…in a way, it did truly seem that way, but they had all seen Edward dead with their own eyes. And they all knew very well that for nearly three months they had been looking for a _dead_ Edward Elric.

"Ed," Mustang was the first to speak. "I'm not even sure how—" he glanced toward Aaron, "—you're supposed to be dead." His expression and tone did nothing to hide the General's skepticism.

Edward parted his lips, inhaling a scent that was laden with blood. He felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.

"Here," Aaron's tremulous hand was soon outstretched, holding a handkerchief.

Edward took it, and while using one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose the other held the handkerchief underneath his nostrils. "Lexi," he began, his voice congested, "any questions you have to interrogate me with should go to her."

Mustang exchanged a look with Cody, and in silent understanding he moved to the hallway. Instead of coming right back into the room, he walked further down the hall to find the teenager.

Edward didn't mind the silence that had settled in the room, in fact he relished in it; his head was beginning to pound relentlessly. But his peace didn't last long…

"Cody!" Mustang frowned.

"Boss, she's gone!" Cody's voice came from the other room, and soon he was in the doorway.

Hurriedly brushing past Cody, Mustang walked back toward the entrance. The door that had been shut at the end of the hallway was open now, and the front door was ajar; as if someone had left carrying something and had forgotten to come back and close the door.

"Shit!" Mustang cursed under his breath and went back to the room. "Where the hell did she go?"

"How should we know? We were in the room with you." Cody answered, gesturing toward Edward and Aaron.

Edward swallowed a mouthful of blood, "Is her dad gone too?"

"There wasn't anyone else in the house from what I could see." Cody frowned, "Do you know where they might've gone?"

"No," Edward shook his head.

"Did you talk to the girl at all?"

He nodded, and when no one said anything he made an assumption that he was supposed to respond with more than that. "Well, other than constantly hitting on the fact that I was dead and brought back to life, she mentioned something about a-" he paused and gestured toward a garbage can. After Aaron grabbed it for him and he spat out a mouthful of blood he continued, "—'reverse human transmutation' theory of her dad's. She claimed that was how I was brought back."

"Just like that book you found, Aaron." Mustang noted.

"But how could something like that be possible?" Aaron asked.

Edward shrugged.

Mustang heaved a sigh, "Alright, the longer we sit here the further Lexi and her father get from us, and the more blood Fullmetal loses."

"How are we going to take him to Central Hospital when he is supposed to be dead?"

"We'll just have to take care of his nose ourselves."

"Dr. Mundlin has an office in HQ's basement that is almost always unlocked for people to get first aid crap." Cody suggested.

"Good, we'll take him there."

Mustang and Cody stepped forward again, helping Edward to his feet and out of the room. When they reached the car, Aaron held the door open so Edward could sit in the front passenger seat. Cody and she got in the backseat while Mustang drove them all back to headquarters.

The ride was quiet, save for the occasional hisses or groans of pain from Edward. The reality of things still hadn't sunk into all of them yet; Edward being alive and the car was full with the same four people that had worked so tightly together before his death. It was difficult for anyone to think of this satiation as strange or unusual.

Edward still couldn't help but feel like everyone's eyes were on him though, as if everyone but him believed that he would vanish from the car if they looked away.

When they arrived at Central Headquarters, everyone was relieved to see that there weren't many cars in the back parking lot. Not that they really needed to go inside, they were able to get downstairs to Dr Mundlin's office easily by the stairs on the outside of the cement edifice.

Aaron walked ahead of the three men to unlock the door as well as be on the look-out for anyone in their path. No one was around. In fact, it was eerily quiet, but they all reminded themselves that it was almost ten o'clock on a Saturday night. Everyone was out, except for those on the upper levels of the building that had to be there.

"In here." Aaron opened up the door to the small medical room that served as an examination room as well as Dr. Mundlin's office. Then, leaving the trio she took antiseptic and a towel with her to track back the way they had came and clean up the trail of blood from Edward.

Edward sat on the white examination bed while Mustang and Cody went to work on finding everything they found necessary to stop a bloody nose. There wasn't much. In fact, all they could do to help was give him a clean and much bigger towel and water to help with getting the blood out of his mouth and cleaning it off his face. When Aaron came back she helped more, folding a piece of gauze to where it was small enough to fit underneath Edward's upper up in front of his teeth.

* * *

"Well, it's definitely broken." Aaron said while observing Edward's crooked nose. It wasn't too noticeable, but it didn't look right. "But I don't want to be the one who fixes it." She grimaced and looked at Mustang.

The four of them had been in the room for thirty minutes and Edward's nose still had yet to stop bleeding. Cody was spinning around in Dr. Mundlin's chair, seeming bored, but his expression said he was amused by this whole thing, especially when Mustang stood and walked over to Edward.

"I'll fix it then."

Edward's eyes widened, "Don't fuckin' touch me." He pulled the hand that was pinching the bridge of his nose and held it out in front of him to keep Mustang as bay. "I've dealt with enough pain, and I don't need any more because you aren't a doctor."

Mustang snorted, "You wouldn't let a doctor even touch your nose." He rolled up the sleeves to his white button up. "Quit being a child and let me fix it. The longer you wait the worse the correction is going to be."

"Then I'll live with it crooked!"

"Ed—"

"Stay back!"

"It'll only take a second, relax!"

Mustang easily pried both of Edward's hands from his nose, and released them to place both his palms on either side of Edward's swollen nose. In one swift moment and sharp cry of pain, Edward's nose was centered again with a few _crunches_ and _cracks_ of cartilage. Edward jerked back and practically collapsed on the bed, writhing and cursing.

"Well that's one way to get it done…" Aaron muttered, lofting her brows at Mustang before she walked over to the counter, searching through the drawers for something.

Mustang folded his arms across his chest, satisfied with his work. Cody was laughing, drowning out Edward's constant groans of pain. Blood was flowing freely again and pain was a hot fire around his nose again.

Aaron came back with a syringe full of a clear liquid. "Found this; it'll keep him content for at least six hours." she showed Mustang the white rectangular label on the body of the syringe that had been labeled _Morphine_ in Dr. Mundlin's familiar chicken scratch.

"That'll do. We should probably give it to him now while he's crying over his nose." Mustang suggested, well aware of Edward's phobia. If they waited until he was focusing on them then he would put up a fight. Right now was perfect with all of his attention being so absorbed by his nose.

Mustang moved, prying Edward's right hand from his nose. "What the hell do you pricks want now?" Edward complained bitterly. He was in no mood to deal with anyone touching, talking, or looking at him right now. "Just leave me the fuck alone and go work on something else."

"_Oh—h_, someone is pissy." Cody cooed from the chair.

"Yeah, you would be too if you were in his shoes." Aaron said in Edward's defense before she turned her attention to the blonde. "Ed, we're just helping." She assured him.

"So quit complaining." Mustang said, holding Edward's shoulder and forearm firmly even though Edward was hardly focusing well enough to pull away. It was nice that he wasn't thrashing around like he normally would've, especially when the tip of the syringe broke the skin and sunk into his arm to inject the pain killer intramuscularly.

When Aaron was finished, Mustang released Edward's arm and watched as it automatically went back to pinching his nose. The syringe was tossed into the trash and Aaron looked at the time. "Give him ten minutes and he should be feeling a little better."

"Watch that be the wrong drug." Cody mused with a grin. "Although he'd be loopy either way, so I guess it wouldn't matter."

"That's not funny, he's in a lot of pain." She moved to stand near Edward's head. He seemed to be slowly calming down. "Although he might be feel nauseous from the Morphine, but I've never seen someone throw up from it…"

"Quit talking like I'm not here." Edward muttered, eyes closed.

Aaron frowned and moved to help him sit back up. "Sorry," she placed both her hands on his shoulders. "Do you need something to lean back against?"

"No, I want to freakin' lay down."

"You can't, not with a nosebleed." She looked at Mustang, "Can you help me push the bed against the wall?"

Mustang nodded, and helped adjust the bed so it was along the wall, allowing Edward to rest back against it instead of struggling to keep himself sitting upright. Edward silently appreciated the shift, and within fifteen minutes he was fully slumped back against the wall. Aaron had jumped up to sit on the bed beside him, allowing him to rest against her so he didn't completely fall over onto his side. She could feel the warmth from his flushed face and neck through her shirt. It concerned her at first, but she reminded herself that Morphine was capable of such effects.

"Major," Mustang finally spoke up. "Do you think you could stay here with Fullmetal while Cody and I head out to find Lexi and her father.? We've wasted enough time sitting around, but we can't bring Ed along, let alone leave him here by himself."

Aaron glanced at Edward, who appeared to be asleep. "No problem." She nodded.

"Good." Mustang waved Cody over, "Have your phone on, one of us will be in touch."

And with that the door shut.

Aaron watched the two disappear down the hallway before she settled back against the wall. Both of Edward's bloody hands were resting in his lap now that they were free of tending to his nose; she had come up with a simple idea of rolling the gauze into cylinders and inserting one piece into each nostril. It was working. The gauze underneath his upper lip had been changed out a few times already, but the fresh one seemed to be holding up nicely. She hoped that meant the nosebleed wasn't going to last much longer.

Aaron felt bad for him, she truly did. Things were never easy for Edward, and being dead then coming back to life to be smacked in the face with a door wasn't exactly the ideal way to go about enjoying life. She had surprised herself with how well she was taking everything. Normally she would've freaked and ended up talking fast and asking a million questions in situations like this. But because Edward was involved, and happened to be the person everything was happened to…well…that made this different; made _her_ different.

"You're really quiet…"

Aaron jumped a little, startled by Edward's voice; it was still stuffed, like he had really bad allergies, or was plugging his nose. "I thought you were asleep…"

"Nah."

"You aren't tired?"

Edward lifted his shoulders in a small shrug, "I'm not in pain. Why would I waste my time sleeping?"

"You're right, crazy idea; my bad."

"…What did you give me anyways?"

"Morphine."

She saw his lips tug slightly at the corners, revealing a half-assed smirk.

"What?" she asked.

"You're lucky I wasn't paying attention."

She laughed, "I know."

Silence settled in the room after Aaron's laughter died, but Edward didn't seem to want it to last as he broke the silence once again. "I'm surprised you all reacted the way you did when you saw me back there."

Aaron's brows knit slightly, "What were you expecting?"

Edward struggled to respond to that. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but rather, what he wasn't expecting. "Dunno…but definitely not this." He continued when Aaron said nothing, "Such as…well, none of you seemed freaked out by any of this."

"Oh no, we're freaked." She laughed weakly, "You showing up alive when we all saw you dead with our own eyes is…bizarre. But I think the relief and excitement of seeing you and talking with you has sort of…delayed the shock."

"That's an interesting way of putting things…"

Aaron flashed a small smile.

"Do you believe what happened though?"

"What, the transmutation?" she watched Edward nod before she continued, "Well…it's a long shot, but…nothing is impossible."

Edward made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded like a grunt, "Just fucking difficult."

"Exactly."

"You believe things too easily." Edward remarked, earning a frown from Aaron. "Do you have that book on you?"

She nodded, and moved to pull it out from the inside of her jacket, which she had lay on the edge of the bed beside her. "Here," she passed it over to him.

Taking the book from her, Edward finally opened his eyes to analyze the cryptic text. "Awesome, this'll be fun decoding." He mumbled.

Aaron rolled her eyes, "I know, but it's definitely proof that he has been researching this theory for a long time. The dates are all clear and go back a decade."

Edward closed the book and set it in his lap. He felt too lightheaded to read or think critically right now, but he fully intended on figuring out what secrets lay within the notes.

Aaron took note of his lethargy and reached over to pat his leg once. "Go to sleep, Ed. I'll let you know if something happens." She promised quietly.

He inhaled deeply and shut his eyes, "Yeah, yeah." He waved her off, "I was already going to sleep."

She smiled, "Sure you were."

"I was."

"Then go to sleep."

Edward grumbled something under his breath, and in his best attempt to make it seem like he was doing what he wanted to, and not listening to Aaron, he resumed his previous position and forced himself to relax.

Aaron waited until she heard Edward's breaths even out and slow down that she took the book from his lap and opened it up to look at it. "Six hours and he'll be all over this information..." she mused quietly, a smile gracing her lips.

"…Just like old times."


End file.
